ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Nov. 29
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev discussed a wide range of issues on the two countries’ cooperation in the fields of energy, transport and agriculture in Tashkent, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary state news agency.
The commissioning of a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China in December 2009, part of which passes through Uzbekistan, can be mentioned as an example of successful cooperation in the energy sector.
The construction of another branch of the gas pipeline on the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan-China route with a capacity of up to 25 billion cubic meters of gas per year is on the agenda.
A promising sphere of partnership is the transport sector. The Turkmen side confirmed readiness for joint work on the Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Caspian Sea-South Caucasus transport route with the access to the Black Sea ports of Georgia, Turkey, Romania and other countries.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are also ready to consider the possibilities of railway communication on the Central Asia–China route.
During the negotiations, the sides discussed the possibility of increasing mutual trade turnover and implementing joint projects in such spheres as agriculture, textile, engineering, gas processing, construction of infrastructure facilities, construction of roads and railways.
As of October 21, 2019, the total volume of the Turkmen gas supplied to China through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan over the past ten years has reached 252.1 billion cubic meters.
The Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline with a length of 1,800 kilometers with three branches is the biggest cross-border gas pipeline in the world.
Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of gas reserves, and China is the biggest consumer of energy resources.
The fourth gas pipeline branch is planned to be built through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The volumes of the exported gas will increase after the construction of the branch.
Ultimately, the volumes are planned to be brought up to 65 billion cubic meters of gas a year which is over 1.5 times more than the current indicators.