DUSHANBE, May 23, 2012, Asia-Plus — The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) will assist with construction of a rail link connecting Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
The President of IDB, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, stated this yesterday during a press conference in Dushanbe.
“It is very important regional project and we are interested in implementation of projects that are of benefit not only to one country,” Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali said.
He noted that Turkmenistan had already begun construction of its section of that regional railway.
“We will gather in the near future to discuss issues related to financing of construction of the Tajik section of the railway,” said IsDB President. “The chief thing is that the process of discussion of this issue has already been launched.”
We will recall that a trilateral meeting of the presidents of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan took place in Ashgabat on March 20 on the sidelines of the International Navrouz Celebrations.
Emomali Rahmon (Tajikistan), Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov (Turkmenistan) and Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for construction of the rail link connecting the three countries.
The 400-kilometer railroad is expected to connect the Afghan town of Akina-Andkhoy to Atamurat-Ymamnazar in Turkmenistan and Panj in Tajikistan.
Construction is planned to begin in July in Turkmenistan. Turkmen workers are also to build the Afghan section of the railway.
The construction work is scheduled to be finished by 2015. The railway link will play an important role in strengthening the economies of the countries and peoples in the region.
China, Iran and Kyrgyzstan are expected to join this ambitious project.
The first meeting of the Joint Coordination Working Group for the practical implementation of the MoU between Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan for the railway construction project took place in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on April 18. The delegations of the three countries discussed a number of specific issues related to the prospects of implementation of the project aimed at construction of the Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Turkmenistan railway.
