Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov is expected to arrive in Tehran to take part in the ministerial and summit meetings of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) to be held here on November 20-22, IRNA reported.
According to media reports, presidents of Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Nigeria, Russia, and Venezuela and Algerian premier are going to participate in the event.
Also President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev whose countries are not GECF members will take part in the summit with the guest status, Shana reported.
In addition to heads of state and government from 17 permanent and observer countries and guests, general secretaries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and International Energy Forum (IEF) have confirmed their participation in the third summit meeting.
Previous GECF gas summits were held in Qatar in 2011 and in Moscow in 2013.
The GECF is the gathering of the world's leading gas producers that provides a framework for exchange of experience, views, information and data, as well as coordination in gas related developments among member countries.
It consists of 17 main and observer members with its permanent secretariat positioned in Doha, Qatar.
Russia, Iran, Qatar, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates, are main members of the gas exporting body. Observer countries are the Netherlands, Iraq, Oman, Peru and Norway.
GECF members account for 42 percent of global gas output, 70 percent of global gas reserves, 40 percent of pipe gas transmission, and 65 percent of global trade of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).