Turkmenistan and Iran railway issues

During the visit of the Iranian President to Turkmenistan the decision was taken to accelerate the construction of the north-south transport corridor, in particular the construction of railways between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

The two Presidents attended the ceremony of signing the agreement between Iranian company Fars Energy and the Turkmen Transport Ministry. This agreement envisages the construction of a 325 km long railway segment between Bereket and Etrek which will cost approximately USD 696 million. This construction should begin in January 2010 and finish by December 2011. Turkmen Railways will receive USD 371.2 million in loans from the Islamic Development Bank to undertake this project and Fars Energy USD 324.8 million.

The Iranian President highlighted that trade turnover between the two countries is now USD 3 billion, but over the next five years it should increase to USD 10 billion.