Amid his country's great economic difficulities, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week, skipping the first summit of Central Asian leaders since 2009 and sending his son in his stead.

Berdimuhamedov’s decision not to attend the summit demonstrated his current priorities amid the country’s worsening budget and economic crisis. The budget woes have continuously mounted up within past months. Turkmenistan has been failing to make timely payments on its contracts and likely finds itself in need of foreign investment -  and at the same time, the ex-Soviet country has been moving closer to Arab Persian Gulf States amid its fallout with Iran.

According to the Turkmen government, Berdimuhamedov secured a number of agreements with UAE leaders during his trip, although the Kuwait visit did not appear to bear much fruit.

The president met with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed al Nahyan.

A memorandum of understanding was signed by the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Dubai Center for Islamic Economic Development; a confidentiality agreement was inked by state-run company Turkmengas and UAE company Mubadala Petroleum; a memorandum of understanding was agreed by Turkmengas and Mubadala Petroleum and a cooperation agreement was devised by the government of Turkmenistan and the Abu Dhabi Development Fund, according to a Turkmen government statement.

The UAE is one of Turkmenistan’s five top trade partners. In December 2017, UAE ambassador Hasan Abdullah Al-Adab told local media that in 2016 total trade between the two countries grew to $1.432bn, up from $1.33bn in 2015, Trend news agency reported.

The Turkmen president wants to attract support from UAE and Kuwait for the $10bn Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline. Turkmenistan has commitments to fund 85% of the construction costs for the pipeline, the construction of which has just entered its Afghan phase. Its future has been boosted by a Taliban pledge not to attack the pipeline.

Dragon Oil, a UAE company, has been operating in the Turkmen section of the Caspian Sea since 1999 as part of a production sharing agreement (PSA). It is one of the largest foreign investors in Turkmenistan.