Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Sept. 2 / Trend H.Hasanov /
Tashkent and Ashgabat are to form a stable alternative natural gas transit corridor, the Uzbek Ambassador to Turkmenistan Sherzod Fayziev said in his message on the 20th Anniversary of Uzbekistan's Independence.
The ambassador said that the oil and gas sector is a priority for the two countries' interrelations. Fayziev noted that "Uzbekistan fully supported the project to build the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline which was commissioned in 2009."
The pipeline, Fayziev said, "opens a new direction in economic regional cooperation and forms a stable alternative transit corridor for natural gas, thus indicating on a major turning point in hydrocarbon export diversifications and overall sustainable economic development of Turkmenistan and other countries in the region."
The message indicates that development in transport cooperation is a strategic issue of a bilateral and regional character.
"Uzbekistan appreciates the agreement recently signed in Ashgabat on the establishment of the freight transit corridor between Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman and Qatar, in which Turkmenistan will be the main link."
Fayziev believes that implementing the "breakthrough project" to build the corridor contributes to international transit traffic capacity and provides a new access to communicating with world markets.
Cooperation in trade and the economic sectors is a priority for further strengthening Uzbek-Turkmen bilateral relations.
"Uzbekistan sees Turkmenistan as a close, important, and reliable economic partner. Revitalizing contacts with both parties contributed to the consistent increase in the volume of bilateral trade, which has increased by more than 4 times over the past four years."
Fayziev commented on the government-level visits between the two countries' leaders. Uzbek leader Islam Karimov visited Turkmenistan in October 2010 and Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhamedov visited Uzbekistan in May 2011.
"The two leaders' visits are testaments to time-tested long-term and mutually beneficial relations of friendship and neighborliness, and are regarded as another confirmation of genuine interest and willingness of the parties to develop a deep mutual respect for the traditions that have closely bound our nations for centuries," the message reads.