Turkmenistan invites Qatar to join TAPI

Doha held high-level talks of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Qatar Emir Tamim bin-Hamad al-Thani on March 15, the Turkmen president’s press-office reported on March 16.

“World-known Qatar companies could join the projects implemented on the Turkmen territory of the Caspian Sea, as well as equipment supplies for oil and gas sector infrastructures in Turkmenistan. We have embarked on the implementation of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project,” Berdymukhamedov said. According to the Turkmen leader, his country is open to discuss involvement of big financial and investment organizations of Qatar in implementation of that transnational project.

Cooperation in the field of transport was highlighted as another important area of Turkmenistan-Qatar relations. The key vector of mutually advantageous and promising cooperation is development of air traffic and maritime communications. In this light, the Turkmen president highlighted the importance of the initiative to set up international transportation and transit corridors to boost economic ties of Central Asia and Middle East. He stressed the importance of the Agreement to create international transport and transit routes between Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman, and Qatar. Another area where Ashgabat would like to see Qatar is construction of Turkmenbashi International Seaport in the Caspian Sea.