TEHRAN (MEHR - Trend )
Iranian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Mohammadreza Forqani stated in Ashgabat on Wednesday that an Iranian firm is currently conducting four projects worth about $100 million in Turkmenistan's Avaza Tourist Zone and Turkmenbashi Port.
Talking to IRNA, Forqani said Pars Energy Company has in hand the construction of a natural gas storage and supply facility, a railroad to the length of 30 kilometers, as well as a hotel and a dock.
He went on to say that 256 kilometers of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railroad which lies within Turkmenistan territory will be built by Iranian companies.
Tehran-Ashgabat trade hit $3.2 billion in the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2009), Forqani said, adding 300 million dollars of the figure was the share of Iran's exports to Turkmenistan, up 40 percent compared with the year to March 2008.
Iran and Turkmenistan have had extended relations since Turkmenistan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then, the two countries have enjoyed good relations and have cooperated in economic and energy sectors.
The $139 million Korpeje-Kordkuy gas pipeline in western Turkmenistan and the $167 million Dousti (friendship) Dam in the south of the country were built through joint ventures.