By Trend

A meeting will be held as part of the Italian-Turkmen business forum on Nov. 6, 2019, in Milan, Italy, Trend reports referring to the Italian Embassy in Ashgabat.

The event will be held with the participation of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) and Turkmenistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The focus will be on cooperation in areas such as oil and gas, chemical, textile and leather industries, as well as the agriculture and construction sectors.

The signing of bilateral documents is also planned.

The Turkmen delegation will be led by the country's Deputy Prime Ministers Rashid Meredov, Chary Gylydzhov and Bayramgeldi Ovezov.

The Turkmen delegetion will also include Minister of Industry and Communications Tahirberdi Durhanov, Minister of Textile Industry Rasul Rejepov, Head of the Turkmenchemistry State Concern Niyazli Niyazliev, Advisor to the President of Turkmenistan for the Oil and Gas Industry Yagshigeldy Kakaev, and Representative of TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project) Muhammetmyrat Amanov.

Moreover, leaders of Turkmenistan's agricultural industry, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs have been invited to join the event.

Italy will be represented by Eni, CNH Industrial, Italian Export Credit Agency SACE, RINA Consulting, Pavia & Ansaldo, OACC (Osservatorio Asia Centrale e Caspio).

According to Turkmenistan';s State Statistical Committee, the largest increase (more than 10 times) in the total Turkmen exports in January 2019 compared to January 2018 fell to Italy's share. Turkmenistan - Italy trade turnover in recent years has been annually about $1.5 billion with a significant predominance of Turkmen exports.

The presence of Italian business is quite noticeable in Turkmenistan's oil and gas sector.

In November 2014, Eni extended the term of its activity in Turkmenistan within the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for ten years.

The matter rests in a contract territory of more than 1,000 square kilometers in the Balkan region of the country.

The company has also recently shown interest in exploring offshore blocks 19 and 20 in the Turkmen part of the Caspian Sea with reserves of more than 500 million tons of oil and 630 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

Earlier, during the negotiations with Turkmenistan, the Eni leadership voiced its desire in the long term to render assistance in supplying the Turkmen gas to the world markets.