Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov is scheduled to pay a state visit to Tajikistan in the first half of April 2023.
Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry says President Sirodjiddin Mukhriddin has discussed groundwork for the upcoming visit with his Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov.
Ashgabat is linked to Dushanbe on several major economic projects, analysts say. First, there are plans to use Tajikistan's territory for an additional fourth branch of a transnational gas pipeline to China. Second, the Trans-Afghan railway to Tajikistan is becoming an important project.
Gas
Turkmenistan has supplied its gas to China since late 2009 via three pipeline branches that transit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. More than 350bn cubic meters of Turkmen gas (including supplies from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, totaling 423.2bn cubic meters) have been delivered during this period.
During the state visit of Turkmenistan's president to China in early January, a Memorandum of Understanding between Turkmengaz and CNPC was signed in Beijing. A joint statement by Berdimuhamedov and Chinese President Xi Jinping said the sides would accelerate the implementation of gas projects.
A new gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China is to go through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan to China. It would eventually increase Turkmenistan's total gas exports to China to 65bn cubic meters per year from the current 40bn.
Railway
Turkmenistan expects to enter the markets of China, and from there the Asia-Pacific region, through the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan (TAT) railway.
Ashgabat has already built railway tracks to the borders of Afghanistan and has taken on the task of building rails to the Afghan cities of Aqina and Herat at its own expense.
It was recently reported that the South Korean government is willing to cover the cost of a feasibility study for the Tajik section of the TAT.
Credits: Eziz Boyarov, Ashgabat
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