Turkmenistan and Pakistan soon ink transit trade agreement

Ashgabat, The Gulf Observer: Turkmenistan and Pakistan are preparing an agreement on transit trade, which will be signed soon. A ministerial delegation will soon visit Pakistan to finalize the draft of the bilateral document, the Nation newspaper reported, citing Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Pakistan Atajan Movlamov as saying during a meeting with Pakistani businesspeople.

The meeting was attended by LPG Industry Association Chairman Irfan Khokhar, Secretary of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Zulfiqar Butt,, Chief Executive of E-Light Group of Companies Muhammad Abbas Malik, Chief Executive of Gold Gas Pvt. Ltd Shafqat Hussain and Director of Gold Gas Company Aziz Khalid.

One of the items on the agenda of the meeting included the discussion of energy cooperation between Pakistan and Turkmenistan.

Atajan Movlamov said Turkmenistan has vast gas reserves, adding that, private sectors of both countries can play a leading role in promoting energy trade. He said the energy agreement with Pakistan will help overcome gas shortages in the country. Daru Khan Achakzai, the Founding President of the Turkmen-Pakistani Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that new ways to promote bilateral cooperation, especially in the energy sector, will be opened.

The meeting also discussed Pakistan’s import of liquefied gas from Turkmenistan, the pricing mechanism, transit tariffs, and the import of liquefied gas via the Afghan route.

At the end of April, Pakistan received the first batch of liquefied gas from Turkmenistan, which was delivered in transit through the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.