Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, May 1 / Trend H. Hasanov /
U.S. businesses have held several meetings with representatives from the Turkmen ministries and departments in the oil and gas industry, mineral resources and agriculture, the newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan reported on Tuesday.
The meetings were held during a joint business forum. Special attention has been paid to the implementation of high-tech joint projects.
The Turkmen Foreign Ministry, the U.S. embassy in Turkmenistan and Turkmenistan-U.S Business Council are the organisers of the event. Representatives of ExxonMobil, Chevron, John Deere and Case are also attending.
Executive director of the Turkmenistan-U.S Business Council Eric Stewart said that holding these forums in the Turkmen capital has become a tradition, contributing to the establishment of closer contacts between potential partners, both public and private organisations.
U.S business people confirmed the commitment of their business circles to expand their presence in the promising Turkmen market from year to year.
The reports delivered at the forum included the urgent issues of developing the global gas market, advanced gas pipeline design systems and increasing the role of IT in the development of the energy market.
At present, the two countries established business contacts, mainly in such areas as the supply of effective agricultural equipment, upgrading of the Turkmen technical civil aviation fleet and imports of power equipment.
Regarding joint projects in the gas sector, this phase of cooperation must be looked at. The U.S shows interest in such projects as the laying of gas pipelines from Turkmenistan to Europe via the Caspian Sea and to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan.
Moreover, the negotiations are underway for the development of Turkmen hydrocarbon fields in Turkmenistan, ranking fourth in terms of natural gas reserves in the world. Ashgabat is inviting U.S. companies to develop the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea. Chevron, ExxonMobil, Conoco Phillips, Honeywell and others are among those concerned.