The Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum Hedayatullah Badri met with Murad Amanov, the executive director of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI), to discuss the need to speed up practical work on the project.

Badri stated this applied to the construction of camps, creation of jobs for local residents, gas distribution and the acquisition of private land in Herat city.

He also assured Amanov of the ministry’s full cooperation with the process of accelerating the TAPI gas pipeline project.

“In this meeting, TAPI project and various issues were discussed,” said Homayoun Afghan, a spokesman for the ministry.

Experts have meanwhile said that the TAPI project will have a significant effect on Afghanistan’s economy and with the construction of this pipeline, new sources of income will be provided through the export of oil and gas.

They said the proceeds earned from TAPI once completed can be invested in major infrastructure projects.

Once complete, the TAPI project will add approximately US$400 million to Afghanistan’s revenue annually, and it will create thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities for Afghans.

Afghanistan will get 500 million cubic meters of gas in the first decade, that will increase to 1 billion cubic meters in the second decade and 1.5 billion cubic meters in the 3rd decade.

Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) said in a statement Tuesday it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Danish Refugee Council on lessening the effects of war on the people.

Nooruddin Turabi, head of ANDMA, and the deputy country director of the DRC Zia Mayar, signed the MoU, worth $471,088, after a meeting between the two parties.

Turabi said at the meeting that all government institutions and departments should cooperate in reducing the risks of natural and unnatural disasters and that all institutions should continue their assistance to reduce the poverty level in Afghanistan.

Mayar said that his organization has been working with migrants in Afghanistan and other countries for about 25 years.

According to him, the DRC also helps Afghans affected by natural disasters and incidents in war-affected areas; as well as with mine clearing operations and emergency situations.

This MoU includes projects such as clearing of mines and other unexploded ordnance; cash assistance; provision of psychotherapy services; support for mine and unexploded ordnance victims, and capacity building of technical department employees of demining institutions in Qala Muslim village and Surobi district of Kabul province.

A number of visiting Iranian officials have met with officials of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation in Kabul to discuss the expansion of transport and transit services.

Iranian officials say they are seeking to expand economic ties between the two countries and want to cooperate with Afghanistan in agriculture, livestock farming, mining and transit.

Hossein Noorizada, deputy governor of Iran’s Korasan Razavi province, said that Afghanistan has high quality agricultural products, and Iran is ready to help such products reach foreign markets.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Investment said that Iran is an important economic partner of Afghanistan and there is great potential to expand economic and trade relations and the two countries should do more in this regard.

"We have the same agriculture as you (Iran) have," said Khan Jan Alokozay, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment. “But we must be given the opportunity to enter a major country that is both your friend and our friend. We should be able to get our fruits and vegetables to India.”

Recently, Iranian investors have become interested in investing in Afghanistan, especially in the agriculture and mining sectors.