Iran and Turkmenistan have stressed the need to boost bilateral trade to $60 billion in 10 years. This was announced at a ceremony held to mark Turkmenistan’s Independence Day in Tehran on Wednesday, which was attended by Turkmen Ambassador to Iran Ahmet Gurbanov and Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. “The launch of Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railroad project is the epitome of Tehran-Ashgabat good relations,” Gurbanov said, adding that implementation of agreements between the two countries is in the interest of the whole region. “The cultural and historical background of the two nations strengthens their political, economic bonds,” IRNA quoted him as saying. Zanganeh haild the rise in trade between the two neighboring countries from $90 million in 1991—when Turkmenistan declared independence from the Soviet Union—to $4 billion in 2014.
