Turkmenistan, Iran enjoy potential to expand ties

/By Azernews/

By Aynur Karimova

Turkmenistan and Iran enjoy considerable potential to expand effective bilateral partnership based on the successful experience of cooperation in various fields.

The two Caspian littoral states, known in the world for their huge hydrocarbon resources, are keen to further develop cooperation in the fields of trade and economy.

During a meeting of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Iran's Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohammad Shariatmadari in Ashgabat, the two countries expressed intention to further intensify productive business contacts, increase the volume of bilateral trade and stimulate investment activity.

Iran, as Shariatmadari said, attaches significant importance to strengthening the traditionally friendly relations with Turkmenistan.

"Turkmenistan pays special attention to the development of fruitful relations with the neighboring countries, including Iran," Berdymukhamedov, in turn, said.

Turkmenistan and Iran cooperate in various fields, and the energy sector is priority among them. The Central Asian nation is the largest supplier of natural gas to the Islamic Republic. The most convenient transportation route for Turkmen resources to the energy markets of the region passes through Iran.

Other most vivid example of successful cooperation of Ashgabat and Tehran is the transport sector. The two countries are currently linked by Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, which was put into operation in December 2014.

This railway is designed to facilitate the optimization of cargo traffic throughout the Eurasia continent.

Preliminary estimates show that annually 3-5 million metric tons of cargo will be transported via this route, which is a part of the North-South international transport corridor. In the long term, the transportation will increase to 10-12 million metric tons.

The new railway line opens the optimal transport route between countries of Europe and the Persian Gulf, contributes to the creation of related infrastructure, logistics centers, new points of growth, thousands of new jobs.

In February 2016, the first test container train launched on the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway route proceeded from Turkmenistan to Iran.

It is expected that China's joining the railway will give impetus for developing trade relations and increasing the volume of trade turnover.

Turkmenistan and Iran are also keen to boost trade turnover between them. During Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Turkmenistan in March 2015, they decided to bring their bilateral trade up to $60 billion within 10 years.

Turkmenistan was the seventh leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2015, according to the Iran Customs Administration.

As of the first nine months of 2015, the trade turnover between the two countries exceeded $2.62 billion, which is 2.2 percent more than the same period of 2015.