Ahmadinejad to depart for Qatar Tuesday

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to depart for the Qatari capital, Doha, on Tuesday to participate in the first Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). During his day-long visit, President Ahmadinejad is to deliver a speech at the summit and hold talks with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani as well as several global high ranking officials. The gathering is participated by presidents and high-ranking officials from 13 countries including Iran, Russia, Qatar, Algeria, Bolivia, Venezuela, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Trinidad, Tobago and Oman and the observer countries including The Netherlands, Norway and Kazakhstan. The ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was held in Doha on November 13 in preparation and coordination for the meeting of GECF leaders. Major topics to be discussed in the summit included coordinating efforts of gas producers as well as promoting the industry worldwide and opening up opportunities for exchange of experiences and co-operation in developing advanced technologies. Participants of the gatherin will also discuss further expanding the utilization of natural gas worldwide and ensuring supplies diversification and reliability through close cooperation among producers. The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was established in Tehran, Iran, in 2001. It is an intergovernmental organization of some of the world's leading natural gas producers. GECF members together control over 64 percent of the world's natural gas reserves, 38 percent of the pipeline trade and 85 percent of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. The three largest reserve-holders in the GECF (Russia, Iran and Qatar) alone hold about 57 percent of global gas reserves.