2nd Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said that the current Afghan conditions have created a proper opportunity for the implementation of the TAPI pipeline project.
Mullah Baradar made the remarks in a meeting with the CEO of the TAPI Pipeline Company Limited (TPCL), Muhammetmyrat Amanov, and the Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Afghanistan Hoja Ovezov.
Mullah Baradar’s office said in a statement that the minister ”stated that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is completely ready to begin the TAPI project and is committed to any form of collaboration in this area.”
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said that the TAPI project construction will begin by October 2022.
“The meetings have been held. We may start the work in mid or late October,” said Esmatullah Burhan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said that a technical team will travel to Turkmenistan to discuss the TAPI project with the country’s officials.
“A technical team will travel to Turkmenistan in the coming month and will discuss the TAPI project, such as how to distribute it to the industries and residents and how to produce power from it—the first phase will be kicked off in Herat,” said Shafay Azam, an official of MoFA.
“The TAPI pipeline project is one of the vital projects that will cause make political engagement and security cooperation among the involved countries and also boost the regional economy,” said Abdul Rahman Habib, a spokesman for the Ministry of Economy (MoE).
The Afghanistan Chamber of Industry and Mines (ACIM) said that the implementation of the TAPI project will help Afghanistan reach self-sufficiency.
“This will help the industries depending on gas, and we also have a serious need for gas to rotate the Afghan economy,” said Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, the deputy head of ACIM.
The TAPI project was planned more than three-decades ago.
