Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 15

By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend

Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov held meetings with his counterparts from Qatar and the UAE in Ashgabat, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a message Nov. 15.

According to the message, Qatar's delegation was led by Secretary General of the country’s foreign ministry Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi.

The sides discussed the process of implementing the reached agreements and the issues of further development of relations in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

"The energy sector was mentioned among the areas of mutual interest," the message said.

The UAE delegation was represented by the country’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash.

The sides discussed the current political, trade and economic relations.

"One of the vectors of Turkmenistan's foreign policy is the strengthening of friendly relations with the UAE," the message said.

The UAE delegation expressed support for Turkmenistan’s positive neutrality and international initiatives regarding sustainable energy, security, transit and transport.

“Turkmenistan is interested in discussing the issues related to the participation of Qatar’s big financial and investment organizations in the implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project,” Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said at the high-level talks in Doha during the state visit on March 15-16.

The UAE companies are prominently represented in Turkmenistan's energy market. Dragon Oil has been operating in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea since 1999 as part of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). This company is one of the biggest foreign investors in Turkmenistan.

Petrofac company took part in the implementation of a big service project for the development of the Galkynysh gas field in the Mary province of Turkmenistan, the second biggest field in the world.