Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 27
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:
The bilateral relations, including those in the transport sector, were discussed during a meeting of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi in Ashgabat, the Turkmen government said Feb. 27.
Akhoundi stressed that Iran attaches great importance to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's forthcoming visit to Turkmenistan and the summit talks in Ashgabat.
A wide range of issues of bilateral relations will be put on the agenda, the statement said.
The transport was one of the important areas of partnership.
Turkmenistan has made a number of important initiatives to build the regional and international transport-communication infrastructure, said the statement.
"The North-South transnational railway line is an eloquent example of the successful joint efforts. In this regard, the Iranian side's proposals on cooperation in this priority area were also voiced," according to the statement.
President Berdimuhamedov emphasized at the meeting that Turkmenistan attaches great importance to the strengthening of good-neighborly interstate dialogue and mutually beneficial relations with Iran.
At the meeting the sides confirmed the sides' mutual intention to continue strengthening and accelerating the effective interaction on a long term basis, taking into account the current realities and prospects for the implementation of new joint projects.
A specialized exhibition is underway in Ashgabat these days. Around 120 Iranian companies, holding the leading positions in various sectors of the economy and representing the major industrial centers of Iran, attend the exhibition, Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.
Certain presentations are devoted to the projects in such areas as road construction and road transport, city improvement, oil, gas and chemical areas perspective for the joint work. The sides call the trade-economic sphere, the textile industry, agriculture and food production as the priorities.
The annual volume of Turkmenistan-Iran bilateral trade hits $5 billion and it can double in the coming years, the Iranian side said.
During the years of the long-term cooperation, Turkmenistan and Iran implemented a number of large-scale joint projects. The most important project is the Korpeje-Kurt-Kui gas pipeline, commissioned in 1996.
The two countries built a border dam, called Dostluk (Friendship), and realized the 'North-South' railway project, on the basis of a tripartite agreement signed in 2007 with participation of Turkmenistan, Iran and Kazakhstan.