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Pakistan’s Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has invited Turkmen energy companies to operate in Pakistan as Islamabad seeks foreign investment to boost the country’s economy and address its energy woes.

Energy-starved Pakistan has been actively pursuing energy cooperation with Turkmenistan, particularly through the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project. The initiative aims to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh gas field to Pakistan via Afghanistan and on to India.

Pakistan has in recent months sought to strengthen cooperation in energy, tourism, mining and minerals, and other priority sectors in a bid to attract international investment. It is seeking to establish itself as a trade and transit hub connecting landlocked Central Asian states to the global economy.

“Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal has invited energy companies of Turkmenistan to open operations in Pakistan,” Radio Pakistan reported, adding that the minister highlighted the country’s improving macroeconomic indicators, successful fiscal discipline and investor-friendly reforms at a meeting at Islamabad’s Ashgabat embassy.

Iqbal said the TAPI gas pipeline project would contribute to regional energy security and support Pakistan’s transition to green energy, which he deemed necessary to overcome the impact of climate change.

Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal has arrived in Turkmenistan to attend the 1st ECO Forum on Sustainable Development.

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