Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Sept.4 By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend: Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and discussed the cooperation in the energy security sphere, a message from the Turkmen government said on Sept.4. "Ensuring energy security and stable supply of energy resources as the main factor of the sustainable development, environmental protection issues and the settlement of situation in Afghanistan, were named the priority aspects of cooperation," the message said. "The initiatives of Turkmenistan to increase the volume of electricity supply to Afghanistan, as well as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan (TAT) railway and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) projects promise greater economic benefits not only for the participants of the large-scale projects, but also all countries in the region," Zannier stressed during the meeting. Turkmenistan joined OSCE on January 30, 1992. Several large international forums of OSCE and UN, including those on energy security have been recently held in Ashgabat. Turkmenistan considers it appropriate to intensify the energy dialogue within OSCE, to formulate the mechanisms for multilateral consultations on political, financial, economic, technological and environmental aspects of construction and operation of the multiple pipeline infrastructure. The country has put forward several initiatives to ensure reliable and stable supply of energy resources to the world markets within the UN. Turkmenistan ranks fourth for its natural gas reserves in the world and currently, it exports its gas to China, CIS countries and Iran. The possibility of constructing gas pipelines from Turkmenistan to the markets of South Asia and Europe is also under consideration.
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