The National Leader of the Turkmen people and Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, has officially launched the next segment of the TAPI gas pipeline project — linking the city of Serhetabat in Turkmenistan with Afghanistan’s Herat province, according to TDH news agency.

The new section, part of the project named “Arkadagyň Ak ýoly” ("Arkadag’s Bright Path"), plays a strategic role in the broader Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) pipeline initiative, a major transnational infrastructure project designed to enhance energy connectivity across South and Central Asia.

TAPI is one of the most ambitious regional gas corridors, aimed at delivering Turkmen natural gas to key markets in the region. The Serhetabat–Herat section is considered a crucial link in the pipeline’s route.

In September 2024, with the participation of Berdimuhamedov, several major infrastructure projects were inaugurated along the Turkmen-Afghan border. Among them was the launch of a 177-meter steel railway bridge on the Serhetabat–Turgundi line, the initiation of the TAPI gas pipeline extension to Herat, and the beginning of construction of a fiber-optic communications line between the two cities.

Additionally, a modern warehouse complex was opened at Turgundi dry port, and construction began on the Turgundi–Sanabar railway segment, part of the first phase of the new Turgundi–Herat rail link. In the energy sector, the "Nur-el-Jahad" power station in Herat was commissioned as part of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan electricity transmission project (TAP).