GECF Tehran Summit to Be Held at High Level: Official

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has submitted official invitations to the heads of state of Russia, Algeria, the UAE, Venezuela, Qatar, Egypt, Bolivia, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago as the key members of the forum as well as the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Peru, Iraq, Oman, and Norway as the observer member states, said Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Iran’s deputy oil minister for international affairs.

It is not clear yet at what level these countries will attend the event since the heads of state will not finalize their attendance until two days before the summit, Zamaninia said, adding at the same time that Iran expects the Leaders Summit to be held at a high level.

“We cannot announce which countries would take part for certain, but based on the calls made so far, we think the GECF summit will be held at a good level,” he added.

He also elaborated on the summit’s agenda, saying that coordination of production policies, investment and export of gas, gas features, and its environmental advantages will be discussed in the upcoming summit, scheduled to be held on November 23.

The member states are also expected to reelect the currently Iranian secretary-general if he shows interest in the extension of his term, he stated.

The Gas Summit is a meeting of heads of states and governments of GECF member countries. It is an opportunity for heads of states to interact and exchange views.

The Summit affords GECF member states the opportunity to discuss at the highest level developments, trends, and policies on energy in general and gas in particular and also to reaffirm their continued support to the objectives of the Forum.

The forum, founded in 2001, unites leading natural gas exporting countries and coordinates cooperation between its member states.