Azerbaijani Energy Minister: TAPI project will improve the welfare of the entire region
The commissioning of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline will improve the well-being of all countries of the Asian region, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Pyarviz Shahbazov said in an interview to AzerTaj.
Projects of this scale always serve to naturally accelerate the development of the economy and have a positive impact on people's lives, as they enclose not only new infrastructure, but also additional jobs, as well as attract foreign capital and diversify cash inflow to the budget.
TAPI affects the interests of not only member countries, but also their neighbors. Many representatives of neighboring states are already considering the opportunity to join the project and see great prospects for this route, the minister said, stressing that he became aware of this from personal communication during the initiation ceremony of the Afghan section of the main gas pipeline, which took place on February 23rd.
Shahbazov also stressed the possibility of Turkmenistan's participation in the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project, which envisages the export of natural gas not only from Azerbaijan, but also from the Caspian states.
He recalled that in 2015 Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, the European Union and Turkey signed a declaration aimed at creating favorable conditions for international energy cooperation between the countries on starting the export of Turkmen gas to Europe.
In the light of the fact that Turkmenistan became a participant of the meeting of the Advisory Council of the South Kazakhstan Territorial Commission held in Baku on February 15th, Shahbazov is sure that the accession of Ashgabat to this project is becoming a more realistic perspective.
