Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, July 28 / Trend H. Hasanov /
The next meeting of the technical working group of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline construction projects will be held in Ashgabat in August. Organizing the world business tour on TAPI presentation in autumn will be considered, the Turkmen government said.
A business tour on TAPI is planned to be held in Singapore, New York and London, the biggest business and financial centers of South-East Asia, America and Europe, during 18-20 days in September and October.
The representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Turkmenistan, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will participate in the TAPI project presentation.
According to a government report, the information about Turkmenistan's energy potential, State Concern "Turkmengaz", technical parameters of TAPI gas pipeline and commercial aspects of contracts and agreements to be concluded within the project implementation has been prepared together with ADB..
"In general, the planned business tour will familiarize the world public, including the large foreign companies and investors, with this grand project and create favorable conditions for its implementation," the information said.
Several meetings will be held with representatives of leading international oil, gas companies and financial institutions within the business tour to attract them to participate in the project.
After hearing the relevant report of the Agency for the Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov focused on the priorities associated with creating a multi-variant system of transporting Turkmen energy resources to the world markets, as well as further promoting Turkmenistan's international initiatives in the formation of a new global architecture of energy security.
"The President stressed that the implementation of a large-scale project to build TAPI transnational gas pipeline, which will ensure long-term supplies of more than 30 billion of Turkmen natural gas to South-East Asia has a special role in this aspect," a statement said.
The basic document for promoting TAPI is the intergovernmental agreement signed by participating countries in Ashgabat in late 2010 to start implementing the project.
Important agreements on TAPI were signed, namely for the purchase and sale of Turkmen gas were signed with the State Gas Systems of Pakistan and Indian GAIL Ltd. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed with transitable Afghanistan.
The Asian Development Bank, acting as the Secretariat in the TAPI project previously wrote that after more than 20 years of complex negotiations, the 1800km gas pipeline which will connect one of the largest energy suppliers of Central Asia - Turkmenistan with the market in South Asia, has become one step closer to reality. This testifies to the unprecedented new ear in regional relations.
At present, around 15 meetings of the supervisory committee and 17 meetings of the technical working group on TAPI project have been held. The financial, commercial and technical issues were considered there.
At this stage, the necessary legal framework has been created to resolve the issues related to project financing and establishing a consortium. It will ensure the construction and future exploitation of the gas pipeline.
The key issue on the agenda remains security of the project, passing through troubled Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan is already supplying gas to China, Iran and Russia.