Latest news with #TAPI
Arab News
28-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan invites Turkmenistan's energy companies to set up operations amid investment push
ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has invited Turkmenistan's energy companies to set up operations in Pakistan, state media reported on Monday, as Islamabad seeks foreign investment to boost the country's economy and resolve its energy issues. Energy-starved Pakistan is actively pursuing energy cooperation with Turkmenistan, particularly through the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project. This initiative aims to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan's Galkynysh field to Pakistan, passing through Afghanistan and extending to India as well. Pakistan has attempted to strengthen cooperation in energy, tourism, mines and minerals as well as other priority sectors in recent months in its bid to attract international investment. It seeks to establish itself as a trade and transit hub that connects landlocked Central Asian states to the global economy. 'Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has invited energy companies of Turkmenistan to establish operations in Pakistan,' Radio Pakistan said in a report, adding that the minister was speaking at an event in Ashgabat. Iqbal said the TAPI gas pipeline project would contribute to regional energy security and support Pakistan's green energy transition, deeming it essential to cope with climate change impacts. The TAPI project was envisaged in the early 1990s and officially agreed upon in December 2010. It has primarily been delayed due to security concerns, geopolitical tensions, funding challenges and bureaucratic hurdles. Pakistan faces significant gas and energy problems that have deepened over the years due to a combination of rising demand, depleting domestic resources and poor management. The country's natural gas reserves are rapidly declining, while efforts to discover new fields have lagged behind. Pakistan has increasingly relied on imported liquefied natural gas which strains its foreign exchange reserves and exposes it to global price fluctuations. Frequent power shortages known as load-shedding disrupt daily life and hurt economic productivity. Outdated infrastructure, inefficiencies in the energy sector, circular debt and policy inconsistencies have made it difficult to develop long-term sustainable solutions.
Express Tribune
09-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Kazakhstan to join TAPI Gas Pipeline Project
Listen to article Kazakhstan is set to officially announce its participation in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, heralding a new chapter in regional energy cooperation. This development was shared by the Ambassador of Kazakhstan during a meeting with Pakistan's Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Khalid Hussain Magsi, held in Islamabad on Tuesday. The high-level meeting focused on strengthening bilateral ties in key areas, including education, scientific research, and technological collaboration. Both sides expressed a firm commitment to deepening strategic cooperation between Kazakhstan and Pakistan. Khalid Hussain Magsi revealed that both nations are in the process of finalising several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) aimed at boosting collaboration in the education sector. He welcomed Kazakhstan's interest in enhancing institutional linkages, particularly the proposal to establish a joint research centre at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad. The Kazakh ambassador underscored the importance of creating a conducive business environment and proposed collaborative measures to curb smuggling. He emphasised that Kazakhstan views Pakistan as a key regional partner in achieving shared goals of economic connectivity and scientific advancement.
Express Tribune
26-02-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Central Asia connect
Listen to article Pakistan's focus on expanding ties with Central Asian Republics is an outcome of geo-economics. The graduation of CPEC into its second phase has thrown open new opportunities for the landlocked former Soviet states, as well as Afghanistan, to buoy their regional interaction for collective good. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's visits to Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan were intended at kick-starting a new phase of understanding, and to cement relations on a broader horizon of multilateralism. The promise from Baku to invest over $2 billion in Pakistan and, likewise, the eagerness of Tashkent to expand bilateral trade to $2 billion are epoch-making developments, and need to be firmly implemented. There are a large number of sectors that Pakistan can tap for these progressive republics in the north, especially in defence cooperation, transportation, energy and mining. A cobweb of unbridled air connectivity is a must, and it is a pity that Pakistan is still not on the map of several airlines that, otherwise, frequently fly to capitals in the region. The Tashkent-Lahore flight is a good initiative which should be extended to Astana, Samarkand, Bishkek, Dushanbe, Bukhara and Minsk. Similarly, easing of visa regulations and due patronage to the businesses community is indispensable. Another area of interest should be infrastructure development to cut down on the road travel in the region, and enable logistics on a supersonic speed as is the case in Europe. Last but not least is pinning cultural and academic interactions to galvanise a better understanding of ethos for promoting pluralism. As trade and commerce take roots, it necessitates an understanding to further the prospects for peace in Afghanistan. Nothing could be materialised with revulsion in the West Asian state, and Kabul has a major responsibility to dispense by exterminating terror fissures on its soil. This will not only help prospective energy projects such as TAPI and CASA-1000, but also the proposed railway link between Pakistan and Uzbekistan via Afghanistan. That is how geo-economics could be realised for the betterment of around a billion people in the region.
Express Tribune
19-02-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
PAC audit reveals funds' misuse
It was revealed during a meeting of the parliament's accountability arm that a portion of the fund collected for energy projects was used to pay off loans. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) met on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Junaid Akbar, who belongs to the PTI. During the meeting, 175 audit paras amounting to Rs4.238 trillion from the Petroleum Division and its subordinate departments were presented. The PAC conducted a detailed review of audit paras exceeding Rs3.178 trillion related to the Ministry of Petroleum and its affiliated departments. The audit report on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project revealed that as of June 30, 2023, Rs350 billion had been collected under the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC). This amount was intended for major projects, including the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project. However, Rs3.7 billion from the GIDC funds were used to pay off loans. Committee members said the GIDC was collected from the public and should have been spent on its intended purpose. Petroleum Division officials responded that international sanctions prevented the allocation of funds to the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. MNA Hina Rabbani Khar of the PPP, who has also served as the country's foreign minister, questioned why the GIDC was collected from the public if global sanctions were in place. She recommended that the Rs350 billion GIDC funds be redirected to alternative projects. The PAC sought proposals from the Petroleum Division within a month regarding the utilization of GIDC funds. The secretary petroleum stated that the GIDC law was introduced in 2015, and in 2020, the Supreme Court declared it void. He said efforts were underway to resolve disputes with Iran over the pipeline project and that GIDC funds were being utilized for reconciliation efforts. He disclosed that Rs1 billion had already been spent on the TAPI project and offered to provide an in-camera briefing on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. During the meeting, it was revealed that Rs33 billion in gas development surcharge (GDS) for the fiscal year 2022-23 was under-collected from fertilizer and power companies. PPP's MNA Naveed Qamar asserted that the federal government had no right over GDS and that collecting provincial revenues was not a federal priority. He accused the government of favoring fertilizer companies at the expense of provincial rights. The director general of gas clarified that the under-collection of GDS was due to subsidies provided to the fertilizer sector.
