Turkmenistan hopes for successful summit on Trans-Afghan pipeline

The Ashgabat summit scheduled for December 2010, with the
participation of the heads of the states participating in the
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, will
be "most effective”, Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said,
Trend reports.

A technical meeting with representatives of the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) and experts of the four states is scheduled for the coming days
in Ashgabat on the eve of the summit.

The pipeline is expected to handle more than 30 billion cubic meters
of gas annually. It was recently reported that the final buyers in
Southeast Asia, including Pakistan and India, have expressed interest
in acquiring much larger volumes over a longer term, which may result
in reconsidering the projected pipeline capacities.