On Wednesday, May 12, in the building of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan, the International Forum on Attracting Foreign Investments to the Oil and Gas Sector of Turkmenistan began its work.

 The organizers of the largest hybrid event in the hydrocarbon segment of the market are the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, the State Concerns «Turkmengas» and «Turkmennebit», as well as the State Corporation «Turkmengeology».  The co-organizers are Turkmen Forum, GaffneyCline, TAPI, TCOR and others.

 The forum is attended by heads of leading national and international companies such as SOCAR, CNPC, NaPeCo, Buried Hill, Dragon Oil, Petronas, ARETI, LG International and others, heads of financial institutions, including ADB, World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and  also experts shaping the future of the industry on a regional scale.

 At the beginning of the event, Vice-Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Shakhym Abdrakhmanov read out the greeting of the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the participants of the investment forum.

 The forum began with a plenary session “Global trends in energy markets and prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation”.

 As the Minister of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan Mukhammetgeldy Serdarov noted, by 2024-2025 the government of Turkmenistan intended to ensure the growth of the country's GDP at the level of over 8% through the introduction of innovative technologies into production and the construction of large industrial facilities.

 During this period, the organization of free economic zones and the attraction of foreign investment in them, the creation of joint small industrial enterprises, the large-scale privatization of state facilities, the creation of joint ventures and joint-stock companies, including those with the participation of foreign capital, were envisaged.

 Investments in such projects as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline and the TAP energy line were of great importance for Turkmenistan. Their implementation would contribute to strengthening the socio-economic well-being of the region and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Serdarov noted.

 In the report of the Deputy Chairman of the State Concern "Turkmengas" Guvanch Agadjanov, special emphasis was placed on the development of multivariate exports of hydrocarbons.

 In this regard, it was noted that the development of the Dostluk (Friendship) field in the Caspian Sea by Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan would allow export natural gas to the western direction. This became possible thanks to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan at the beginning of this year. This document regulated the main points regarding the exploration, development and development of the Dostluk field.

  In turn, Rovnag Abdullayev, President of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), speaking at the forum, emphasized that SOCAR was ready to let Turkmenistan use the Southern Gas Corridor for the transportation of Turkmen energy resources to international markets.

 "An excellent example of cooperation in the near future will be the joint development of the Dostlug field, a project that representatives of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are already successfully working on," Abdullayev said.

 Speaking at the forum, Chinese Ambassador to Turkmenistan Qian Naicheng stressed that cooperation between China and Turkmenistan in the field of natural gas was a clear manifestation of the mutually beneficial nature of bilateral relations.  In this regard, he noted that China had imported about 300 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas through the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline since its commissioning in 2009.

 On the first day of the forum, speeches were also made by the UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan, UNICEF Representative in the country K. Weigand, ESCAP Executive Secretary A. Alisjahbana, IEF Secretary General J. McMonigla, as well as presidents, vice presidents of leading foreign companies, ambassadors of a number of states and  many other forum participants.

 The event continued in four sessions, such as “The Role of Financial Institutions in Supporting the Global Energy Agenda”, “Pipeline Projects - Driving the Transition to a Low-Carbon Future”, “Offshore Caspian Fields: Development Experience and New Investment Opportunities”, “Investment Projects  in the monetization of hydrocarbons - a look into the future”.

 The investment forum will continue its work on May 13.  Then, it is planned to discuss issues of exchange of experience in the field of processing and purification of natural gas with a high sulfur content, treatment of bottomhole zones of wells drilled in carbonate gas reservoirs and other issues.