Herat, Sep 13 (IANS): Work inauguration for the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline on Afghan territory was formally initiated by the leaders from Afghanistan and Turkmenistan on Wednesday.
The programme has been regarded as a major source of creating job opportunities for the war-battered Afghanistan.
"Implementation of TAPI and supplementary projects such as Fiber optic, railway and transmission of electricity from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan, in addition to creating job opportunities for Afghans, would also have millions of US dollars economic benefit for Afghanistan," a local economic expert Abdul Qadus Khatibi observed.
In addition to the inauguration of the TAPI projects, the authorities also inaugurated the 500-kilovolt power transmission line from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan, fiber optic and railways on Wednesday, Afghan officials said.
Khatibi described it as a vital regional development project. "TAPI links Central Asia to South Asia and benefits more than two billion people. This project is vital for a country like Afghanistan where all its economic infrastructure has been destroyed."
"Launching such a significant project in an impoverished country like Afghanistan is essential for building its economy as many people can find jobs and eventually the economic condition can be improved," Khatibi added.
A World Bank report in April highlighted the country's sluggish economic performance, noting that food prices had dropped by 14.4 per cent year on year in February, while non-food prices fell by 4.4 percent -- a sign of deflation in an economy already struggling to recover.
An estimated 23.7 million Afghans require humanitarian aid in 2024, more than half of the country's population, with a staggering nine out of 10 people living in poverty, Xinhua news agency reported.
Welcoming the launching of the TAPI project, an Afghan named Ziaul Haq said that the project on the one hand strengthens friendships among the stakeholder nations -- Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, on the other hand it creates jobs for thousands of Afghans in the poverty-stricken country.
Aimed at enhancing economic activities in regional connectivity, the 1,814 km long pipeline project with 816 km on Afghan territory, the pipeline would transport 33 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan, the office of the Afghan acting deputy prime minister for economic affairs said in a statement posted on X.
The project is expected to generate 450 million US dollars for Afghanistan. The impoverished country will get 500 million cubic meters of gas for the first decade, 1 billion in the second decade, and 1.5 billion in the third decade if the project is implemented smoothly.
Thousands of Afghans, probably up to 12,000 people would find jobs with the implementation of this project, according to Afghan caretaker government's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
"In terms of economy, it (TAPI) creates job opportunities for thousands of educated youth and the development could have a direct positive impact on society," economic expert Gulabudin Miri suggested.