The Turkmen company Aýdyň Gijeler will receive four hectares of land in the Kingdom of Eswatini to establish its own production facilities, according to the company. The decision followed an audience between King Mswati III of Eswatini and a delegation from the Turkmen company led by CEO Hydyrberdi Abdurakhmanov on May 28 in Abu Dhabi.
During the meeting, the two sides reached preliminary agreements on a large-scale joint project involving the production and supply of 1.5 million national identity cards and more than 500,000 biometric passports for Eswatini.
King Mswati III expressed readiness to provide state support for the project, which is expected to become one of the largest digital identification initiatives in the kingdom. The documents will be produced on a high-security chip platform developed by Austrian Cards, using advanced cryptographic and biometric technologies compliant with ICAO and European Union standards.
The agreements also outline long-term cooperation between Turkmenistan and Eswatini in digital identification, document systems, telecommunications, lighting technology, road infrastructure, and information technology.
During the visit, the Aýdyň Gijeler delegation also held separate meetings with Eswatini’s foreign minister, interior minister, and minister of trade and industry. The discussions focused on technical parameters of the project, delivery schedules, and the development of a legal framework.
The company said Aýdyň Gijeler is the first private-sector enterprise from Turkmenistan to reach a strategic level of cooperation with the Kingdom of Eswatini.