Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Jan.26 / Trend, H. Hasanov /
Negotiations were held between the 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 the fuel and energy sectors and specifically the implementation of the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, the report said.
Both 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 stabilisation of the situation in the country as a whole".
The TAPI project was launched in December 2010 in Ashgabat when important agreements were concluded following the high level summit.
The length of the TAPI may reach over 17,000 km. The design capacity is about 33 billion cubic metres 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 come from 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, the TAPI gas pipeline may play a role of a real and effective stabilising factor that can have a positive impact on the overall situation in Central and Southern Asia and adjacent regions and give additional stability to the entire system of political and economic relations on the continent".
Leaders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan stood for maximal realisation 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 products and building productive business relations in various industries were stressed.
The power sector is among the priority issues. In this context, Mr Karzai, as reported by the Turkmen government as having thanked President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov for Turkmenistan's efficient efforts to increase electricity supplies to Afghanistan,
In February 2011 it was decided to take measures to build the corresponding infrastructure that will eventually enable the grid to reach a fivefold increase in the export of Turkmen electricity to Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan has initiated a project of laying the Atamyrat-Ymamnazar-Akina-Andkhoy railway which will become an important link in international transit traffic in the long term.
The Turkmen government reported that by the coincidence of views of the parties on cooperation in strengthening peace and security, sustainable development in the region and in entire world, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to constructive partnership between the two countries in the UN and other authoritative international organisations.