DM Monitoring
ASHGABAT: The greatest potential for Turkmenistan lies in its natural gas resources, a representative of the Heritage Foundation told media.
The representative pointed out that in order to improve its economy, Turkmenistan should start by opening its economy to foreign investment and diversify its energy exports.
The source added that President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has encouraged foreign investment in the energy sector.
Furthermore, Turkmenistan needs to work with Azerbaijan, the EU and the US on a Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, which envisages transportation of Turkmen gas to Europe through Azerbaijan.
Recently, Turkmenistan has declared its readiness to supply Europe with an annual volume of up to 40 billion cubic meters of gas.
Earlier, the Turkmenistan’s president said that fuel and energy sector of Turkmenistan should attract foreign investment.
He also noted that the main goal of Turkmenistan’s energy policy is the effective use of natural resources for sustainable growth, expansion of export opportunities and improvement of the welfare of the country’s population.
In the first four months of 2020, the volume of investments into fuel and energy complex of Turkmenistan amounted to more than 3.73 billion Turkmen manat (over $1 billion), which is 1.3 billion manat (more than $371 million) more than during the same period of last year.
In total, from 2016 up until May 2020, about 40 billion manat ($11.4 billion) were allocated to strengthening the material and technical base of country’s oil and gas industry.
Heritage Foundation is the US strategic research institute, which is engaged in a wide range of international policy research. Its mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government and individual freedom.
