(IRNA) - Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov here Wednesday praised his country's friendly ties with Tehran in all areas.
During a meeting with outgoing Iranian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Gholam-Reza Ansari, Niyazov described the visit of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Turkmenistan in late July as "important" in terms of consolidation of mutual relations.
He said the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries currently stands at USD 1.5 billion, and stressed the importance of further stepping up bilateral cooperation, reports Trend.
The Turkmen president said bilateral cooperation in various fields such as transportation as well as economic, political and cultural ties were at a satisfactory level.
Ansari, for his part, highlighted the religious and cultural commonalties shared by the Iranian and Turkmen nations and called for further expansion of relations.
He expressed hope Iranian companies would participate more actively in the economic development of Turkmenistan.