The foreign policy strategy of Turkmenistan is based on the principle of strengthening peace through sustainable development.  This is one of the main components of the country's diplomacy, aimed at the practical implementation of joint economic and investment projects, creating favorable conditions for international cooperation.  This was noted in the speech of the State Minister, Chairman of the State Concern "Turkmengas" Batyr Amanov at the plenary session of the International Conference “Sustainable cooperation in the energy sector is an important condition for universal development”, which opened today in Ashgabat.

 As B. Amanov emphasized, Turkmenistan has achieved high growth rates of the national economy and active participation in large-scale international projects.  One of the confirmation of this is the implementation of a large-scale interregional project - the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, which, in the opinion of all its participants and partners, will give a powerful impetus to the region's economic progress.

 Now the laying of the linear part of the 214-kilometer Turkmen section of TAPI, the total length of which is 1,840 kilometers, and its design capacity is 33 billion cubic meters per year, is at the final stage, the minister noted.

 According to Amanov, China is currently the largest importer of Turkmen gas.  Three lines (A, B and C) of the transnational gas pipeline Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Kazakhstan - China, commissioned in December 2009, supply about 40 billion cubic meters of blue fuel per year.  In the future, these volumes will be increased to 65 billion cubic meters.

 The head of "Turkmengas" noted that Turkmenistan also supplies gas through the CAC gas pipeline to Russia, and has all the technical capabilities and resource base for the supply of blue fuel in the southern direction.

 In parallel with the export of natural gas by pipeline transport, Turkmenistan currently pays special attention to its deep processing, which in the future may become a dominant sector in the country's economy, B. Amanov said.

 In recent years, several gas chemical complexes have been commissioned in the country, and in the near future it is planned to build several more new plants to produce products with high added value in demand on world markets, said the head of State Concern "Turkmengas".