On 27 May, BOMCA hosted the National Steering Group (NSG) Meeting in Turkmenistan, which gathered the main BOMCA national counterparts in the country – the State Border Service, the State Customs Service, the State Migration Service, the State Service on Plant Quarantine and the State Veterinary Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, and the State Sanitary-epidemiological Service of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry – as well as representatives from the EU and the BOMCA Consortium.

The purpose of the NSG meeting was to discuss implementation aspects of the BOMCA programme, such as progress achieved, lessons learnt, and modalities of future activities. The meeting was important not only in terms of discussing plans for the rest of the year, but also laid a foundation for further cooperation and established a forum for presentation of achievements, evaluation of results and valuable feedback from national partners. 

The participants acknowledged substantial work done by Turkmenistan in the area of border management and trade facilities in order to promote trade flows with neighbouring countries and to enhance security at border crossings. This is particularly relevant in the run-up to the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) which will take place in September 2017 and the role of the country in connectivity projects.

NSGs consisting of representatives from the main national beneficiary agencies have been established in each of the five Central Asian countries. These meetings are held on a regular basis and represent an important coordination mechanism for implementation of the programme at the national level.