TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh left Tehran on Wednesday for the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat to open Iran�s exclusive fair in the central Asian country.

The Iranian minister is due to attend the opening ceremony of the exhibition, which will be held from August 19 to 21.

Over 100 Iranian companies and 300 participants are scheduled to take part in the exhibition in Ashgabat Exhibition and Conference Palace.

Heading a political-economic delegation, Nematzadeh will also hold meetings with Turkmenistan�s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and other high-ranking officials during his visit.

An Iran-Turkmenistan trade conference is also planned to be held on Wednesday afternoon, which will be attended by high-ranking Iranian and Turkmen officials and businessmen from public and private sectors.

The visit comes a couple of weeks after Turkmen Foreign Minister Rasit Meredow�s visit to Tehran on July 26.

The value of bilateral trade between Iran and Turkmenistan reached over $4 billion last year, Meredow said at the time, stressing that the figure can further increase.

Earlier in March, Iran�s President Hassan Rouhani made a two-day official visit to Ashgabat at the invitation of his Turkmen counterpart.

During the visit, he announced that Iran and Turkmenistan have decided to increase the total value of their economic exchanges to $60 billion in a ten-year period.

By Tasnim News Agency