In Turkmenistan, top officials from Afghanistan and Turkmenistan oversaw the initiation of construction of the Afghanistan portion of a pipeline that will transport natural gas from Turkmenistan’s abundant reserves to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. The construction of the Afghanistan segment, which was initially planned for completion in 2018, faced delays due to security concerns, while the Turkmenistan segment has already been finalized. During a ceremony on Wednesday, the first joint of the 100-kilometer pipeline section linking Turkmenistan to Herat in Afghanistan was welded in the presence of Afghan Prime Minister Hassan Akhund, Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdymukhamediv, as well as his father and predecessor Gurbanguly.

Upon completion, the pipeline is expected to deliver 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually. Turkmenistan, possessing the world’s fourth-largest gas reserves pivotal to its economy, aimed to expand its customer base following the loss of gas trade with Russia and presently conducts the majority of its gas exports to China. Gurbanguly Bersymukhamedov, also referred to as the National Leader of the Turkmen People, projected that the pipeline venture and related undertakings will generate 12,000 job opportunities in Afghanistan and yield over $1 billion in revenue annually, as reported by the government publication Neutral Turkmenistan.