Turkmenistan Invests Over $1.5 Billion in Projects In Afghanistan

Turkmenistan’s Foreign Minister, Rashid Meredow, announced that Ashgabat has invested over $1.5 billion in joint projects with Afghanistan.

“The government of Turkmenistan has invested more than 1.5 billion dollars in various projects with Afghanistan. Turkmenistan is determined to develop and expand political, economic, commercial, transportation and transit relations with Afghanistan as much as possible,” the minister said, while addressing at a meeting on joint Turkmen-Afghan infrastructure projects on September 18, according to the website of Ariana News TV.

He emphasized Turkmenistan’s intention to deepen these relations and invited India, Pakistan, international banks, and the Asian Development Bank to invest in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project.

Fazl Mohammad Saber, acting head of the Afghan embassy in Turkmenistan, echoed this sentiment, stating, “the opening of TAPI, TAP, fiber optics and railway lines, etc., is actually a sign of true friendship and brotherhood between the people of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, who have been living side by side in a good neighborly atmosphere for a long time.”

“The people of Afghanistan welcome the successful implementation of these projects, and the Islamic Emirate is determined to implement them,” he added.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, confirmed that economic ties and bilateral cooperation between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are growing.

On September 11, Turkmenistan’s former president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Afghanistan’s Acting Taliban Prime Minister Mohammed Hassan Akhund officially resumed construction of the Serhetabat-Herat section of the 1,800-kilometer TAPI gas pipeline, which had been stalled since 2018. They also participated in the opening of a new railway bridge on the Serhetabat-Turgundi line at the Turkmen-Afghan border, the foundation-laying of the Satlyk-1 gas compressor station, the Serhetabat-Herat fiber-optic communication line, and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) power transmission project.

Once completed, the TAPI pipeline will transport approximately 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh gas field to Pakistan and India, passing through the Afghan provinces of Herat, Farah, Helmand, and Kandahar. Pakistan and India will each purchase 42% of the gas deliveries, and Afghanistan 16%.

TAPI, which will help Turkmenistan diversify its energy exports, has faced delays due to security concerns, regional tensions, and financial challenges. Afghanistan is expected to benefit from the pipeline, with gas transit fees estimated at $500 million annually.