Iran, Turkmenistan’s top trading partner in 2010

TEHRAN , Nov. 14 (MNA) -- Iran was Turkmenistan’s first trading partner in 2010, accounting for 21.7 percent of its total trade value, Turkmenistan State Statistical Committee reported. Russia, Turkey and China ranked the next with 18 percent, 16.4 percent and 10.8 percent shares respectively, the report added. Turkmenistan’s trade amounted to $14 billion in the first six months of 2011, showing 40 percent rise compared to the same period last year. The trade value between Iran and Turkmenistan is expected to reach $5 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2012), the director of Europe and America bureau of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran said. “Tehran and Ashgabat have great potentials to enhance their bilateral trade value up to $10 billion,” Abdolhamid Asadian added. The tow countries’ annual trade value currently stands at $4.2 billion. The head of the Turkmen Chamber of Commerce and Industry Palvan Taganov also said that Iran is a major trade partner for his country. According to him, currently 146 Iranian companies are carrying out several industrial and constructional projects in Turkmenistan. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier in June called for accelerating the implementation of bilateral infrastructure projects between Iran and Turkmenistan. Referring to the construction of a joint railway among Iran, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, Ahmadinejad said “this project should become operational as soon as possible and serve the welfare of the two nations and the regional nations.” The 1,000-kilometer railroad will shorten more than 600 kilometers of route for transporting goods from the Central Asia to the Persian Gulf, and will become one of the important international transportation links between China and Europe.