Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia mull co-op prospects
By Trend
Ashgabat has hosted round table discussions on the Turkmen-Saudi relations, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a message on November 27.
The event was held at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
The Saudi delegation was represented by Rector of the Institute of Diplomatic Studies under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al Salman.
During the meeting, three sessions were held under the titles “Turkmen-Saudi bilateral relations”, “Economic cooperation (energy, trade and investment)” and “Cooperation in science and culture.”
The visit was organized within a program of cooperation between the two institutes, signed during the official visit of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Saudi Arabia in May 2016.
Saudi oil companies, such as Saudi Aramco are showing interest in investing in Turkmenistan, Nebit-Gaz, an online newspaper, reported earlier citing Khalid A. Al-Falih, minister of energy, industry and mineral resources of Saudi Arabia and chairman of Saudi Aramco.
In particular, Saudi Aramco is considering possibility of investing in oil and gas production in countries that have access to the Caspian Sea, and in particular in Turkmenistan, which has the largest mineral resources, according to the report.
The Saudi energy minister added that Saudi Arabia supports construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. He said the Saudi companies are ready to supply the materials necessary for the project.
Construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI began in December 2015.
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