Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov will arrive in Ashgabat on an official visit on 18 December. During the forthcoming high-level talks, the sides plan to discuss a wide range of bilateral cooperation issues in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres, as well as some aspects of international politics of mutual interest, the Turkmen government''s press service reports.

"The Bulgarian president''s visit will raise bilateral relations to a new level and serve to further develop fruitful cooperation and dialogue between Turkmenistan and the EU," Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said at a government meeting on 17 December.

The priority areas of the Turkmen-Bulgarian partnership include trade and economic cooperation. Trade between Turkmenistan and Bulgaria was about US $ 8 million dollars in the first 10 months of 2008, the Turkmen State News Agency said. .