TEHRAN- Iran and Turkmenistan started a new round of negotiations on the project to build a 400-KV line for the transmission of electricity from the Turkmen city of Mary to Iranian city of Sarakhs.

Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian and the vice chairman of Turkmenenergo State Power Corporation negotiated in Tehran to accelerate construction of the transmission line, the Mehr News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Falahatian said the idea of building this line was put forward in his early October meeting with Turkmenistan’s Energy Minister Murad Artikov in the Turkmen capital city of Ashgabat.

Turkmen Foreign Affairs Minister Rashid Meredov said in July that his country seeks to expand and enhance energy and transport ties with Iran.
 
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar in Tehran on business and trade between Iran and Turkmenistan, Meredov said that the two countries have been cooperating on water and electricity, as well as transport projects, and the cooperation will go on. 

In March, Iran and Turkmenistan signed 17 cooperation documents in economic, cultural, political, legal, scientific, and technological fields. The two sides are determined to boost their bilateral trade to $60 billion by the next 10 years. 
  
Turkmenistan was the 7th leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-Septemebr 22), according to the Iran Customs Administration.

Iran exported $451.76 million of non-oil goods to Turkmenistan and imported $13.692 million of non-oil products from the country in the seven-month period.

Turkmenistan was also the 7th major importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the past calendar year, which ended on March 20, with importing $973.658 million and exporting $113.728 million of non-oil products from and to Iran, respectively.

MA/