Turkmen, Afghan presidents discuss TAPI gas pipeline project

Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Jan.26 / Trend H. Hasanov / Negotiations were held between presidents of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov and Hamid Karzai in Turkmenbashi, the Turkmen government said on Thursday. During the meeting special attention was paid to cooperation in fuel and energy sector, and specifically - implementation of the project of construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI), the report said. The sides stressed that "implementation of this large-scale energy project is important for all parties involved, and, above all, for Afghanistan, and will directly help to stimulate the Afghan economy, attract investment, address urgent social issues, including employment, which will positively affect stabilization of the situation in the country as a whole". Implementation of the TAPI project was launched in December 2010 in Ashgabat, where important agreements were concluded following the high level summit. The length of the TAPI may hit over 17,000 km. The design capacity is about 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year, while the cost is estimated at $7-8 billion. The source of raw materials in addition to the Dovletabad field will be the Galkynysh field, which is one of the world super giants. Commenting on the meeting in Turkmenbashi, Turkmen media outlets report that "in the future TAPI gas pipeline may play a role of real and effective stabilizing factor that can have a positive impact on the overall situation in Central and Southern Asia and adjacent regions, give additional stability to the entire system of political and economic relations on the continent". Leaders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan stood for maximal realization of the potential of productive interaction on its whole range. At the same time, opportunities for further increasing the volume of trade turnover, expansion of line of products, building productive business relations in various industries were stressed. Power sector is among the priority issues. In this context, Karzai, as reported by the Turkmen government, thanked "President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov for Turkmenistan's efficient efforts to increase electricity supply to Afghanistan". In February 2011 it was decided to take measures to build the corresponding infrastructure that will eventually enable to reach a fivefold increase in the export of Turkmen electricity to Afghanistan. Turkmenistan has initiated a project of laying Atamyrat-Ymamnazar-Akina-Andkhoy railway, which can become important link in international transit traffic in the long term. The sides exchanged views on topical issues of regional and international policies of mutual interest. Turkmen government reported that noting " coincidence of views of the parties on cooperation in strengthening peace and security, sustainable development in the region and in entire world, the sides reaffirmed their commitment to constructive partnership between the two countries in the UN and other authoritative international organizations". Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az