Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi visited Baghdad on Wednesday and delivered President Hassan Rouhani’s invitation to Iraqi President Fuad Masum to participate in the third summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, scheduled to be held in Tehran in late November.
The two sides discussed areas of interest for both countries including transport and construction, IRNA reported.
Masum recalled his visit last month to Tehran when he met with President Rouhani and the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and praised Iran’s determination to assist the Iraqi nation.
As part of his one-day visit, Akhoundi also met with Iraq’s Minister of Housing and Construction Tariq al-Khilkani and Iraq’s Minister of Transport Baqir Jabr al-Zubeidi, to follow through memoranda of understanding previously signed between the two sides for expanding collaboration in areas of rail, sea, road and air transportation and technical services.
The Iraqi ministers welcomed Iranian companies’ participation in infrastructure projects in Iraq.
Iran and Iraq agreed on linking the two countries’ railway networks via Shalamcheh and Khosravi border points when Akhoundi and al-Zubeidi met in Tehran in December last year.
According to Akhoundi, the construction of Shalamcheh-Basra railroad is expected to be completed within the next 19 months, with Iran pledging to build a 700-meter-long drawbridge over Arvand River and Iraq completing 50 kilometers of railroad track on its territory.
Meanwhile, an Iranian trade and investment delegation traveled to Iraq on Wednesday on a four-day trip aimed at assessing the Iraqi market for cooperation in areas of food products and construction materials.
The trip was organized by the Trade Promotion Organization in collaboration with Bagdad Chamber of Commerce.
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum is an intergovernmental organization that brings together the world’s major natural gas producers, namely Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman and Peru have the status of ‘observer members’.
GECF members together control over 70% of the world’s natural gas reserves, 38% of the pipeline trade and 85% of the liquefied natural gas production.
