Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 7
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
The Turkmen Foreign Affairs Ministry hosted in Ashgabat a meeting of the technical working groups on the Regional Infrastructure Confidence Building Measures (RI-CBM) within the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan, Trend reports with reference to the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, co-organizer of the event.
“The OSCE stands ready to employ its comprehensive security instruments to maintain a sustainable dialogue on the existing and planned infrastructure projects and to facilitate discussions in the areas pertinent to the RI-CBM, such as security of regional infrastructure and trade facilitation on new trade and transport routes,” said Natalya Drozd, head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat.
The participants stressed the importance of the effective implementation of various large-scale and local economic projects in the region for fostering the socio-economic stability, security and further prosperity of the region.
The Istanbul Process was established as a platform for regional dialogue and co-operation for encouraging security, political, and economic co-operation between Afghanistan and its neighbors.
The participating countries of the Istanbul Process include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the UAE.
The project includes a number of large-scale regional initiatives, including the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the Asian International Railway Corridor and the Lapis Lazuli Trade and Transportation Corridor.
Assistance in the organization of the regional technical groups meeting is provided as a component of an extra-budgetary project of the OSCE Center funded by the UK.