AKIPRESS.COM - On the last day of his official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov had a meeting with the leaders of the Islamic Development Bank and visited the city of Medina, reports Turkmenistan.ru.

During the talks at the bank's headquarters between the President of Turkmenistan and head of the Islamic Development Bank Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani, the sides discussed issues relating to bilateral cooperation in the sphere of investments.

The sides noted that such partnership has already resulted in the implementation of a number of major social and economic projects worth USD 690 million, including in the sphere of health, transport and communications. A soft loan allocated by the IDB for construction of Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway is a recent example.

The sides also noted that in accordance with the agreements reached earlier, representatives of the IDB prepared a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Islamic Development Bank with the view of increasing cooperation in the field of financing of promising development projects.

Altogether, the Program of Cooperation between Turkmenistan and the IDB for 2016-2018 provides for eight projects focused on development of infrastructure, economy and social purposes.

The talks were followed by a ceremony of signing bilateral documents, such as the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Islamic Development Bank to increase cooperation in financing of promising development projects, as well as the Protocol between the State Concern “Turkmengaz” and the Islamic Development Bank on the results of the evaluation commission for Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project.

Then, the President of Turkmenistan left for the holy Muslims city of Medina, located 430 kilometers north of Mecca. In Medina, the head of state visited the Mosque of the Prophet Muḥammad. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and members of the delegation of Turkmenistan prayed at the mosque.

Following the prayer in the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov wrapped up his official visit of to Saudi Arabia and left for Ashgabat from the airport of Medina.