ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, December 23. The Government of Pakistan has decided to extend the operation of the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act (FIPPA), a special legislative regulation, to Turkmenistan's investments in the TAPI gas pipeline project, Trend reports.
This step is aimed at increasing the financial attractiveness of the project in the eyes of international creditors, the cost of which is estimated at $10 billion and which will transport natural gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan and India.
Turkmenistan will have 85 percent of the participation in the project, and Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India will each have 5 percent.
The FIPPA Law, which was previously adopted solely to protect foreign investments in the Reko Diq copper-gold mine in Balochistan province, will provide additional guarantees for Turkmen investments in the TAPI project.
Pakistan has already secured the protection of Turkmen investments with a sovereign guarantee in accordance with the Host Government Agreement (HGA), but the 2022 FIPPA will serve as a single window for incentives and guarantees for Turkmen investments in the project.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan and Pakistan signed a joint implementation plan in Islamabad on June 8, 2023, to accelerate work on the TAPI gas pipeline project.
This week, Afghan acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, after a meeting with Turkmenistan's FM Rashid Meredov, said that work on the implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline project will begin in the near future.