At a meeting in Kremlin on 25 March, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Dmitriy Medvedev singled out trade and economic fields as priority areas of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Russia.

The sides confirmed their readiness for practical implementation of decisions made by the Turkmen-Russian intergovernmental commission aimed at boosting cooperation in trade, economic and fuel-energy spheres as well as transport, communication, power engineering and agricultural sectors, the Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports from Moscow.

"There is no doubt that we have significant resources to diversify our cooperation and expand our investment potential. In this context, I highly estimate an agreement on mutual protection of investments that we have just signed," Dmitriy Medvedev said to journalists.

"We also discussed issues relating to expanding cooperation in the sphere of production. Russian companies, including famous Russian brand names, have a strong presence in the Turkmen market. They include Gasprom, LukOil, Russian Railways, KAMAZ, ITERA, Stroytransgas, Souyzneft and other companies. This proves that we have a good basis for large-scale joint projects," he emphasized.

Turkmen and Russian presidents noted a significant growth in trade between the two countries reaching US $ 7 billion in 2008. Speaking to journalists, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed confidence that trade turnover can be increased further.

"We are happy that Russia is interested in importing Turkmen farm products, textiles, chemicals, construction materials and other commodities," the Turkmen leader said. He also noted a considerable increase in cooperation between Turkmenistan and Russian regions, including St Petersburg, Tatarstan and Astrakhan region.

The presidents also noted the importance of the Turkmen-Russian economic forum held in Moscow on 23 March.