Ministerial meeting of GECF kicks off in Tehran

A ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) opened in the Iranian capital Tehran on Saturday to approve a final declaration of the third GECF summit scheduled for Monday.

The final declaration will give special attention to the joint investment and mutual cooperation among the GECF member states, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said in his opening remarks.

Environmental issues like the natural gas emissions will figure high on the agenda of the summit.

"That will convey the GECF's message to the upcoming 2015 COP21, also known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference," Zangeneh said.

The Iranian minister added that Saturday's meeting further seeks to prepare the ground for more exchange of views, broader cooperation and synergy among the existing members of the forum.

It also seeks to encourage more governments to join the GECF, he added.

GECF is a gathering of the world's leading gas producers and was set up as international governmental organization with the objective to increase the level of coordination and strengthen the collaboration among the member countries.

Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela are the member countries of the forum.

Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman and Peru have the status of observer members.

Sources: XINHUA