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Turkmenistan, Iran sign 13 documents

28 March 2018 16:02 (UTC+04:00)
Turkmenistan, Iran sign 13 documents

By Kamila Aliyeva

Turkmenistan and Iran are keen to further develop cooperation in trade, transport and energy sphere as well as other strategic areas.

This follows from the talks held between Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani which took place in the course of the official visit of Iranian President to Ashgabat.

Both states stand for the consolidation of positive cooperation in Caspian Sea and for the improvement of its status as the sea of peace, friendship and harmony, Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary reported.

In particular, there are good perspectives for the cooperation in transport sphere where the sides have already accomplished joint project of construction of transnational railroad.

The parties have common visions on the subjects of sharing practices and realization of specific projects in priority branches of the economy.

Turkmenistan and Iran implement productive partnership in transport and transit sphere. Entirely meeting the goals of sustainable development, Turkmen – Iranian cooperation in this field is dictated by national and regional interests. There is the construction of transnational railroad Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan – Iran in the North – South direction among number of big international projects.

Making positive effect on transport communication in entire Eurasian space, the above-mentioned railway opens the entry to trade and material markets of the Middle and Near East as well as Indian Ocean states from the ports in Baltic Sea.

Currently, Turkmenistan is engaged in construction of Turkmenbashy International Seaport. It will allow expanding maritime communication with Iranian ports Enzeli and Nekka and increasing the volumes of international multimodal cargo transportation via Bander-Abbas Port in Persian Gulf.

Following the talks in one-on-one and expanded formats, the parties signed 13 cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding.

After the signing ceremony, the leaders of two countries made statement to the representatives of mass media.

Commenting on the outcomes of the high-level meeting, the Turkmen president highlighted fruitful character of current negotiations, which resulted in important agreements in cooperation in political, trade, economic and humanitarian spheres.

He confirmed that bilateral partnership planned for long-term perspective received strong impulse.

Concerning the interstate political dialog where the sides demonstrate the proximity or similarity of the visions of topical international issues, the provision of peace and prosperity in regional and global scales are the main objective of Turkmenistan and Iran cooperation, Berdimuhamedov noted.

The agreement on continuation of the cooperation of two countries under competent international organizations including the United Nations, the Islamic Cooperation Organization and other structures has been achieved.

Turkmenistan proposed number of initiatives in energy security sphere and in the formation of transit and transport corridors. In this context, the Turkmen president informed that foreign departments of both countries received the instructions on conduct of regular consultations.

The agenda of the talks included the subjects of cooperation in trade and economic sphere taking into account the necessity of the diversification of the economy in energy sector especially in oil and gas complex as well as in such fields as transport and tellecomunications, agriculture, construction and others. In this aspect, the contacts between the representatives of small and medium business are very important.

Berdimuhamedov noted that the volume of mutual trade turnover has exceeded $1 billion in 2017. As for today, more than 150 Iranian companies work in Turkmenistan.

At the same time, the Turkmen head of the state focused on the cooperation in the formation of transit and transport corridors where transcontinental railroad Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan – Iran, which is used not only by our but other states as well, is a visual example of successful consolidation of efforts.

The sides also agreed to work in energy sphere and hydrocarbon materials processing.

Having focused on the subject of cooperation in Caspian Sea, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov highlighted that our countries are the supporters to make it the sea of peace and harmony. Coastal states actively cooperate in this sphere and this work will be continued especially in ecology, biosphere and other directions.

Having emphasized the trade and economic cooperation, the head of Turkmenistan noted that this important objectives are to be discussed between intergovernmental structures.

In his turn, Iranian leader noted the constructive character of the talks in Ashgabat, during which wide spectrum of the objectives of cooperation in different spheres has been discussed.

At present, the sides are willing to involve existing mutual potential for further development of efficient partnership including in energy, transit and transport sectors.

There are big opportunities stipulated by advantageous geographic location of Turkmenistan and Iran, Rouhani noted. In this context, the decision on opening the bridge in Serakhs in order to give new impulse to the cooperation in this field has been taken.

It was informed that the decision of opening of new road between Mary and Serakhs has been made. The sides agreed on participation of Iranian companies in joint projects of road construction.

Having touched upon the subject of cooperation in Caspian Sea, Rouhani stated the presence of big opportunities for the development of Turkmen – Iranian trade and economic partnership, which are necessary to be realized with maximum output.

Important agreements on humanitarian cooperation including in scientific research and cultural spheres as well as in technology field were important results of the talks.

High ranking guest noted that the sides are also committed to close cooperation in international arena.

Speaking at the briefing on the results of bilateral talks, the Iranian president noted that the parties discussed issues of increasing swap operations and wider use of existing pipelines for the delivery of Turkmen natural gas to third countries, Iranian media outlets reported.

Also, Iranian head of state noted that the issues of increasing the transit of Turkmen electricity through the territory of Iran for export to third countries were considered during the talks.

“Today, the main task of the parties is to strengthen and expand traditional cooperation, taking into account existing conditions and opportunities. In this context, we are pleased with the effectiveness of our talks, during which key issues of bilateral partnership are discussed,” Rouhani stressed.

Having focused on interaction in the fuel and energy sector and its prospects, the high guest noted the fact that the third direction of electricity supplies from Turkmenistan to Iran is now opening. This is another evidence of intensified cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector, he said.

At the same time, the Iranian leader stressed that the level of trade and economic partnership does not correspond to the capabilities of the two states, and measures should be taken to increase the volume of bilateral trade.

Rouhani also invited Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to pay an official visit to Iran. The terms of the visit will be coordinated through diplomatic channels.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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