Progress of the TAPI project in Afghanistan: 17.4 km of survey and 8 km of pipeline welded

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Kabul: Humayun Afghan, spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, told AVA that the TAPI project is a very large liquefied gas transmission project in the region.

"According to the quadrilateral agreement between the countries of the region, Turkmen liquefied gas is to be transported to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan," Afghan said.

"So far, 17.4 kilometers of TAPI project surveys have been carried out and 10.2 kilometers of pipelines have been transferred, and similarly, 9.2 kilometers of roads have been paved and 8 kilometers of pipelines have been welded," he added.

"There are no problems with the implementation of this project on Afghan soil at present and the Islamic Emirate is working hard with the relevant countries to achieve a common goal," the Ministry of Mines spokesman said.

 

What are the main economic benefits of the TAPI project for Afghanistan?

However, Taj Mohammad Talash, an economic expert, said in an interview with AVA that "TAPI is one of the most important and strategic projects of Afghanistan's national economy, which in the future will generate taxes and revenues for the country's economy on the one hand and provide jobs for many people on the other."

"One of the economic advantages of the TAPI project is that with the completion of its three phases, Afghanistan can establish various industrial estates, and with industrial estates, factories will be activated and employment will be created, and ultimately the unemployment rate will decrease," he said.

"The TAPI project can create strong economic confidence among neighboring countries, and on the other hand, political issues will gradually fade and be replaced by the implementation of economic programs," the economist said.

 

"With the completion of the TAPI project, trust among neighboring countries will increase," he said, adding that large-scale, multilateral projects of common interest would also create regional stability.

From an effort perspective, the TAPI project not only has multilateral economic consequences, but also shows the economic capacity of the countries involved in how determined they are to implement large regional projects.

"The TAPI project, which is one of the largest regional projects, will, when commissioned, reduce Afghanistan's economic dependence on foreigners, especially the US and the Western bloc, and play a key role in the national economy and enterprise," he said.

The economist continued his speech by emphasizing the implementation of large economic projects and investment in the country's infrastructure, saying that "humanitarian aid is intermittent and unsustainable, therefore, if a country wants to help Afghanistan, it must invest in the country's infrastructure, to create jobs for the people of Afghanistan on the one hand and to develop the country's internal capacity. Economic self-sufficiency is approaching."

 

The importance of the TAPI project for Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India

The TAPI project is a valuable multinational natural gas transmission project that seeks to build a natural gas pipeline that will transport gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, then to Pakistan and finally to India.

The project is said to be an important gas transmission project for Afghanistan, starting from the Turkmen gas fields and running 816 kilometers in Afghanistan, covering Herat, Farah, Nimroz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

The TAPI project was first proposed in the late 1990s, when various countries were looking for new ways to supply energy and the need to diversify energy sources was felt.

Initial agreements In 2002 and 2004, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India reached initial agreements on the construction of the TAPI pipeline, but the Islamic Emirate eventually started the project, especially inside the country.

The project was initially between Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, but in December 2010, India was added as a key partner to the project, which became an international quadrilateral project.

The project is planned to have a total length of about 1,800 kilometers and a capacity of about 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Turkmenistan to India annually.

 

Under the agreement, Afghanistan will receive about $450 million annually. In the first ten years, Afghanistan will receive 500 million cubic meters of gas annually. In the second phase, which will last 10 years, this amount will increase to one billion cubic meters of gas annually, and in the third phase, Afghanistan will receive half a billion cubic meters of gas annually.