Turkmenistan, Tashkent, Aug 30 /Trend H.Hasanov/
A number of important meetings, first and foremost with the head of the host country Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are planned during the working visit of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov to Tehran, the Turkmen government said.
'As expected, the leaders of the two fraternal countries will discuss the implementation of bilateral agreements and exchange views on the prospects of further expansion of the fruitful cooperation between Turkmenistan and Iran in regional and international formats, particularly in the framework of the international organisations', the information stated.
The high level of mutual understanding established between the leaders of the two countries, the productivity of economic cooperation and common positions on major international issues, "all in combination create a fertile ground for further constructive cooperation between Turkmenistan and Iran, expressing their mutual interest in the continuous building of fruitful cooperation," State Information Service Turkmen Dovlet khabarlary (TDK) writes in its commentary.
Turkmenistan jointly with Iran implemented a number of large scale projects such as the construction of a water reservoir at Dostluk, the Tejan-Sarahs-Mashhad railway, interstate pipelines and power lines.
At this stage, the two countries with the participation of Kazakhstan are implementing the joint North-South rail project. Lining the road is funded by the Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank.
In recent years, Turkmenistan and Iran have been regularly in talks to increase the energy supply.
The Korpedje-Gurtguyy gas pipeline which originates from the western fields of the country was commissioned in December 1995. Its capacity today has been brought up to eight billion cubic meters per year. There is potential to increase the pipeline's capacity to 14 billion cubic meters.
Since the end of December 2009 the neighbouring countries have opened additional facilities. The Dovletabad-Sarahs gas pipeline with a capacity of up to six billion cubic meters per year was constructed from the Iranian border to the east of Turkmenistan. There is potential to double the capacity of the pipeline. The main buyer of Turkmen gas is the National Iranian Gas Export Company.