When it comes to closing the country, Chinese people may think of the former Qing Dynasty and the former North Korea. But when it comes to countries that are still closed in the 21st century, most people may find it strange. After all, today, with the rapid progress of global integration, isolation seems to mean that economic development is not equal.
However, there is such a mysterious country, not only with the "tradition" of isolation, but also with the rich assets favored by God, living a life of "closing the door and making a fortune", this is Turkmenistan.
First, "muffled silence" to live
In the eyes of most people, closed country seems to be a purely derogatory term, because closed country means that there is no exchange and communication, which is equivalent to denying away development opportunities in disguise, which is almost equated with closed exchanges.
But what no one expected was that the epidemic was raging around the world, and Turkmenistan, which was closed to the country, actually "escaped a catastrophe". Gradually, over time, it became clear that such closures seemed sensible.
Turkmenistan was granted "permanent neutrality" status recognized by the United Nations in 1995, and its subsequent closure was also inseparable from political factors.
Just after the country declared independence, President Niyazov was very troubled by the problem at hand. Geographically, Turkmenistan is close to Iran and Afghanistan, both of which are economically and militarily powerful. If you want to ensure your own stability in this turbulent situation, you must not tilt the scales in favor of one side.
Therefore, after many years, Turkmenistan gradually discovered on the road of exploration that if it wants to ensure that the current fruits of peace are not destroyed to the greatest extent, it can only use nationalism and closed "medicine". But "closed to the country" does not mean that Turkmenistan has no money, and it can be seen from Turkmenistan's local infrastructure that the country is still quite rich.
2. Gas and oil tycoons
As the only neutral country in the Asian region, what can Turkmenistan, which is "surviving in the cracks", really achieve "turning a deaf ear to things outside the window and concentrating on living my little life"? While the world is worried about Turkmenistan's unfavorable situation, the locals have always had their own unique advantage: abundant natural resources.
Turkmenistan holds natural resources that most Asian countries cannot imagine, with 20.8 billion tons of oil alone and 2.46 billion cubic meters of natural gas, both of which are at the top of the world rankings. When many countries have a headache because of how to adjust oil prices, gasoline in Turkmenistan is sold for 5 cents a liter, which is also the advantage of relying on mountains and water.
These two "fragrant fruits" naturally give the local government enough confidence, if there is no cash cow guarded by their own house, who dares to easily say what "closed"? In 2021 alone, Turkmenistan and China reached 34 billion cubic meters of natural gas imports and exports, accounting for 56% of China's total pipeline natural gas imports.
Third, break the mystery and gradually go out
Although on the surface it is said to "close the door to life", for resources such as oil and gas, of course, it is the export of energy to maximize the interests of the country, which is why Turkmenistan has introduced a large number of foreign capital in recent years.
Turkmenistan has also been affected to a certain extent in the process of global integration, from the founding of the country to 2018, Turkmenistan has introduced a total of 117.2 billion US dollars of foreign investment, accounting for 63.4% of the country's investment, ranking among the top ten regions in the world to introduce direct investment.
Turkmenistan's GDP growth rate stabilized at 20% for only the decade from 2005 to 2014, demonstrating the potential of the country of 5.72 million people.
In May 2020, Turkmenistan officially submitted its application to join the World Trade Organization as an "observer". In July of that year, Turkmenistan officially became the twenty-fifth observer of the WTO. I believe that this is also the beginning of Turkmenistan's gradual unveiling of its mystery to the world.
At present, Turkmenistan is still not allowed to travel independently, but compared to before, the transit visa has been much easier, and many tourists can follow the tour group.
epilogue
Any form of economic development is based on the national conditions itself, and for Turkmenistan, the local people sitting on rich mineral resources are of course "tree to follow". But the wise Turkmenistan people are not as good as they have always been in the world integration trend, but are trying their best to integrate into this rapidly developing world while basically ensuring their own security.
What else do you think about Turkmenistan, which has made a fortune behind closed doors? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.