Azerbaijan, Baku, April 8 / Trend S. Aliyev /
Turkmen trade turnover increased by 1.9 times as a result of the successful policy pursued by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, Turkmen Minister of Economy and Development Babamyrat Taganov said at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Baku on Monday.
All the conditions have been created in Turkmenistan to attract investment, Taganov said. The country is also working on further diversification of energy resources, as the relevance of energy remains an important issue for the country.
Turkmenistan has recently worked to diversify hydrocarbon supplies to China and Iran, he said.
"Moreover, we are working on the TAPI gas pipeline project which is of great importance for the development of the region," he said. The Kazakhstan - Tajikistan - Iran railway is being rapidly constructed. A road leading to Afghanistan and Iran is planned to be constructed from 2016."
The basic document for the promotion of the TAPI project is the Ashgabat interstate agreement of the state parties on the commencement of the practical implementation of the TAPI project signed in late 2010. The instability in transit through Afghanistan remains a serious obstacle, but Kabul said the country will ensure the safety of the route.
In May 2012, the Turkmen government has entered into an agreement for the sale of natural gas with India's GAIL Ltd. A memorandum of understanding was signed with Afghanistan.
The design capacity of TAPI is 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The estimated length reaches 1735 kilometres. It is expected the pipeline will extend from the largest gas field in Turkmenistan 'Galkhynysh' through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandagar to the Fazilka settlement on the Pakistani-Indian border.
Turkmenistan realises the importance of trade liberalisation for integration.
"Currently, the issue of joining the WTO is being examined," Taganov said.
He said that environmental issues including those relating to the situation in the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea are important for Ashgabat.
Today Baku is hosting the meeting of the World Economic Forum (Davos Forum) 'Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the South Caucasus and Central Asia'.