Ambassador of Turkmenistan Atadjan Movlamov exchanging views with CEO and Chairman of Pakistan Observer Faisal Zahid Malik who called on the ambassador at his office to discuss Pakistan-Turkmenistan bilateral relations particularly cooperation in energy sector.—PO photo by Sh Arif
Zubair Qureshi
Islamabad
The oil and natural gas-rich Central Asian state Turkmenistan is keen to assist Pakistan in meeting the country’s overwhelming energy needs and the execution of Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India (TAPI) gas pipeline project can prove a milestone in this regard.
These views were expressed by Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Pakistan and Dean of Diplomatic Corps, Ambassador Atadjan Movlamov while talking to CEO and Chairman of Pakistan Observer Mr Faisal Zahid Malik who called on the ambassador at his office. Pakistan, he said, was a close friend of Turkmenistan and the bilateral relations between the two countries were based on mutual trust, respect, growing desire for trade and unanimity of views on various international issues.
Turkmenistan and Pakistan have a huge potential for bilateral trade that can be enhanced through people-to-people (p-to-p) and business-to-business (b-to-b) contacts,” he remarked. Both countries should be connected through an optic fiber cable via the Arabian Sea, which will provide Pakistan benefits of millions of dollars, the envoy added.
He also appreciated Pakistan’s commitment to the billion-dollar project TAPI which would prove a game changer for Pakistan’s energy sector. From Pakistan it could further be expanded to China and the Gulf countries. The multi-billion-dollar TAPI project is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Galkynysh – TAPI Pipeline Company Limited with participation of the Asian Development Bank. The pipeline will transport natural gas from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh Gas Field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India.
Turkmenistan wants more trade access through sea as it was a landlocked country and for this Karachi and Gwadar ports are the shortest trade routes. Faisal Zahid Malik while emphasizing the need for enhancing trade and tourism relations between the two countries, said Pakistan should make full use of Turkmenistan’ s offer to meet its growing energy needs.
The multi-billion dollar TAP will not only ensure a cheap and sustainable supply of energy to the Pakistani economy, it can also open avenues for further cooperation between the two countries in other sectors, he said. In power sector too, Ashgabat is producing electricity at a very cheap rate, which could greatly help Pakistan in electricity too.
