OREANDA-NEWS. December 10, 2010. The ninth meeting of the Technical Working Group of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project is being conducted in the capital of Turkmenistan. It has brought together leading specialists of all countries participating in this transnational gas project and the Asian Development Bank.

In their greeting remarks the working group members emphasized that all parties attached priority significance to the issues regarding acceleration of the construction of this grandiose gas pipeline of regional and international importance. Focusing on the appreciable progress made over the past months in promoting the TAPI project, the meeting participants evaluated highly the great efforts taken by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to step up the implementation of this energy project.

It should be noted that that considerable progress in advancing the TAPI project was made over the last few months of the current year during the regular meetings of the Technical Working Group and the Steering Committee held in Ashgabat when specialists managed to come to agreement about the specific technical and commercial components of the future gas pipeline and the terms of gas supplies.

The finalized Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement was signed during the eleventh meeting of the TAPI Steering Committee held this Septembers at the level of sectoral ministries of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The heads of sectoral companies of the four countries signed the supplement agreement “The Protocol on the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement”. Furthermore, the large-scale work has been done to finalize the draft TAPI gas pipeline Agreement between the Governments of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India on the implementation of the project.

In November the participants of the eighth meeting of the technical Working Group finalized the draft intergovernmental agreement between the participating countries on the construction of the TAPI gas pipeline. Also, the key issues regarding Turkmen gas sales and purchase were considered and finalized. At the eighth meeting the Pakistani participants made presentation on the ways to ensure security of the gas pipeline project in the territory where the future pipeline would be built. The Turkmen participants presented the information on natural gas reserves to be supplied to the TAPI gas pipeline to future consumers.

The agenda of the ninth meeting of the TAPI Technical Working Group focused on the uses regarding drafting the gas sales and purchase agreement. During three days the meeting participants are to formulize other aspects of the finalization of the draft intergovernmental agreement and other documents regulating technical and commercial components of the project.

These documents will be finalized during the twelfth meeting of the TAPI Steering Committee, which will be held in Ashgabat on December 10. Then the package of documents will be presented at the high-level meeting of the delegations of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India for signature.

This high-level meeting is expected to be a critical step towards accelerated implementation of the grandiose infrastructure project aimed at strengthening energy security and designed to make a major contribution to sustainable socio-economic development of countries on the Asian continent.