Azerbaijan, Baku, June 5 / Trend A. Badalova /
Exports of energy resources to Europe are one of the priorities of Turkmenistan's international strategy , Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources of Turkmenistan Annageldy Mammetyazov said at the international conference 'Caspian Oil and Gas 2013' in Baku.
According to him, the key point in this matter is the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline.
Touching on the issue of the unresolved status of the Caspian Sea, Mammetyazov said that Turkmenistan is ready to direct and open discussions with all parties on the basis of mutual respect and fairness.
Turkmenistan has much to offer to the changing global energy market, he said.
He noted that the country is rich with energy resources, but needs investment and is willing to establish business relations with all interested parties.
Turkmenistan is going to further develop mutually beneficial cooperation with foreign companies, he said.
The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline at a length of nearly 300 kilometres will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to the Azerbaijani coast.
Negotiations on the construction of the pipeline between Turkmenistan, the EU and other countries have been on-going since the late 1990s.
The negotiation process was intensified after the European Union delivered a mandate to start negotiations on the preparation of an agreement between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the Trans-Caspian project in September 2011.
However, Iran and Russia later expressed negative attitudes towards the project. Tehran and Moscow think the pipeline construction may damage the Caspian Sea's ecology.