Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Sept. 11
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
Turkmenistan is among the top 10 major suppliers of goods to Afghanistan, Trend reports referring to the newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan, which in turn refers to the country’s Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations.
Turkmenistan attaches particular importance to establishing closer trade ties with its southern neighbor, Afghanistan, the report said.
The agreements between the countries help the exchange of experience in simplifying trade procedures, in the field of transport development and improving transit through the harmonization of border and customs mechanisms, help simplify getting business visas, open up new opportunities for other new joint projects, the newspaper reports.
The trading house of Turkmenistan began to operate in Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif. As part of the existing bilateral agreements, a number of projects are being implemented, including those regarding the provision of Afghanistan with electricity, liquefied gas on a preferential basis.
Large-scale projects, including the construction of the Turkmenistan- Afghanistan- Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the Turkmenistan- Afghanistan- Tajikistan (TAT) railway, the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey (Lazurit) transport and transit corridor may serve to the sustainable socio-economic development of the Central Asian region, the article said.
In addition, according to the memorandum of understanding, last month the construction of the 10-kilometer Akina-Andkhoy railway line was launched. Its construction is carried out at the expense of the Turkmen side.
In the future, this branch is planned to be extended to the border with Tajikistan with further access to the states of the Asia-Pacific region. The work is underway on further deliveries of electricity to Afghanistan. The validity of the memorandum regarding several railway lines will expire Dec. 31, 2019.
In this regard, a protocol was signed according to which the export of electricity was extended until December 2020. Last February, construction of the TAPI gas pipeline passing through Afghanistan began, as well as the construction of the accompanying power transmission line and fiber optic communication line.