TEHRAN Iran is to raise the capacity of its silos in Turkmenistan to 180,000 tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2001), press reports reaching here on Saturday said.
The economic daily Abrar-e Eqtesadi' cited an Iranian official as saying that the first of the total six modern metal silos now under construction by Iran's Construction Jihad Ministry is scheduled to come on stream by the end of the Iranian month of Azar (Dec. 20, 2000).
Abdurrahman Tavakkoli, official in charge of the silo project, said that construction by the ministry of the six silos is covered by a 16.2-million-dollar contract with the Turkmen government.
He said that the tender was held in the Iranian calendar year 1374 (March 1995-March 1996) with other companies from the United States, Germany, Turkey and Israel also competing.
The silos operate automatically and require only three persons to run them.
The projects are seen as paving the way for the transfer of more technological savvy and engineering services to Turkmenistan.
Officials assess as "positive" Iran-Turkmen relations and believe that an expansion of bilateral ties could help stabilize peace and tranquility in the region.
Last week, both countries signed a memorandum on joint management of consular and border affairs concurrent with the third Iran-Turkmenistan Joint Commission meeting.
The memorandum provides for reciprocal protection of the rights of nationals of each country within the limits of each other's territory and the extradition of criminals.
Iran and Turkmenistan also agreed to facilitate visa issuance and transport affairs for Iranian gas experts and to allow mutual air photography rights.
Turkmenistan, it is to be noted, has made outstanding progress in the area of constructing oil refineries since its independence.
It is also a leader in railroad and airport construction and is rapidly boosting its agro-industrial production.
Iran will also build ten 100,000-ton silos in Syria in the near future.
(IRNA)