Today in Ashgabat, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov held a briefing on the commissioning of three infrastructure facilities in Afghanistan.

Recall that on the eve, with the participation of the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, the Kerki (Turkmenistan) - Shibirgan (Afghanistan) power transmission line, the 30-kilometer railway line “Akina – Andhoy” and the International Fiber Optic Communication System and transit flows along the route Imamnazar (Turkmenistan) - Akina (Afghanistan) and Serhetabat (Turkmenistan) - Turgundi (Afghanistan).

The briefing was attended by the heads of ministries, heads and representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations working in Turkmenistan, rectors of universities, representatives of national media and foreign media accredited in Turkmenistan. Ambassadors of Turkmenistan in foreign countries, as well as more than 30 representatives of foreign press from 15 countries, also took part in the briefing via video conferencing.

As the head of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan noted in his speech, these projects are real steps aimed at the consistent joining of Afghanistan to regional and international economic processes, the integration of this country into the system of continental transport and logistics ties.

During his speech, the Foreign Minister also stressed that the construction of infrastructure facilities in Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, going beyond the regional framework in terms of its geo-economic and geopolitical significance, essentially means the formation in the territories of the two countries of a new belt of transport and communication and energy supplies of the continental level, connecting the Central and South Asia with Europe and the Middle East.

In this context, the importance of cooperation with international organizations, including the United Nations and its specialized bodies, the European Union, was noted. They also emphasized the conjugation of multilateral interests, the desire of partners to diversify transport and energy flows, which creates the preconditions for joining the aforementioned projects of a number of integration associations, such as the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In this regard, the head of the Foreign Ministry of our country emphasized, bilateral Turkmen-Afghan infrastructure projects should be considered as part of larger plans to create a vast geo-economic space uniting the states of the region and aimed at forming an integrated system of continental cooperation in Eurasia.

The head of the Foreign Ministry confirmed the invariability of the position of our country aimed at providing comprehensive political, diplomatic and economic support to Afghanistan, which constitutes a single long-term state strategy for cooperation between Turkmenistan and this state.

Minister of Energy of Turkmenistan Charymyrat Purchekov, as well as Counselor of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in our country Ahmad Tarik Nurzade, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Central Asia, Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalya German, Head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat Natalya Drozd, Director of the Permanent Representative Office of the Asian Development Bank in Turkmenistan Chang Ching Yu.

The speakers noted that the implemented initiatives of the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov contribute to an increase in the volume and expansion of the geography of electricity exports, an increase in the transport and transit potential of the entire region.

At the end of the briefing, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov answered questions from representatives of foreign news agencies, local press and teachers of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the International University for Humanities and Development.