Iran-Turkmenistan 6-month trade exceeds last year’s total

Mashhad, IRNA – Iran’s Ambassador in Ashgabat said that Iran-Turkmenistan trade in the first half of 2022 exceeded their total trade in 2021. Gholam Abbas Arbab-Khales told IRNA in the opening ceremony of Bajgiran border market on Monday that Iran's active economy diplomacy has caused the surge in trade with Turkmenistan. Arbab-Khales said that the trade between the two countries has reached $233 million in the first half of 2022, while their trade amounted to 227 million dollars in the whole 2021. He anticipated that the trade volume between the two countries would reach nearly twice of the volume for the last year by the end of 2022, noting that the surge has been possible due to Iran’s new policies in expanding economic ties with neighbors. The ambassador highlighted Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow’s choosing of Iran as his second foreign trip destination at his capacity as president as sign of Iran's significance for Turkmenistan's government. He also mentioned Turkmenistan's support for Iran's full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Tehran's backing Ashgabat's proposal in an international meeting among the two countries political exchanges. Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish