Iran, Turkmenistan Sign Several Agreements for Road Construction, Power Transmission
Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov signed the cooperation documents during the closing ceremony of the 17th intergovernmental committee session in Ashgabat.
Two agreements were signed by the two sides in the field of road construction worth $550 million and the construction of a power transmission line and supply of electrical equipment worth $ 340 million.
The Iran-Turkmenistan intergovernmental committee meeting started in Ashgabat on November 17 with the participation of the Iranian minister of road and the Turkmen foreign minister and ended on November 18.
Earlier, Bazrpash had underlined Turkmenistan's "special status" in advancing the Iran-Rah Initiative, which was put forward by Iran to allow its neighbors and other regional states to use the country as a transit route and logistics base.
Bazrpash made the remarks in a meeting with Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow in Ashgabat, during which both sides also discussed bilateral relations.
The Iranian minister described Turkmenistan as Iran's strategic partner, noting that the country was the gateway to Central Asia and provided access to the East-West transport corridor, which will connect Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq and Turkiye, as well as the International North-South Transport Corridor, a transport route linking South Asia to Northern Europe.
Bazrpash urged the two countries to take an important step toward greater synergy in their partnership and bilateral relations.
He also highlighted the necessity to eliminate transportation taxes between the two countries, and called for increasing exchange of technical and engineering services, particularly in the fields of transportation and energy.
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