Brussels, 05/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - The reinforcement of energy relations between the EU and Turkmenistan will be at the heart of the official visit of Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to Brussels on 5-6 November. He will meet President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and his colleagues Benita Ferrero Waldner (External Relations) and Andris Piebalgs (Energy), and representatives of the European energy companies. Its vast, unexploited reserves of gas and geographical proximity to Iran make Turkmenistan a strategic energy partner for the Union, which is attempting to persuade Ashgabat to join in with the Nabucco pipeline project. Although his country, a former Republic of the USSR, still provides Russia with most of its gas at preferential rates, President Berdymukhamedov is not ruling out involvement in the Union's strategy of diversification, aiming to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, a strategy which is largely based on its new export routes. Unlike his predecessor Saparmyrat Niazov, the Turkmen president wishes to open his country up to foreign investment, liberalise the main sectors of the Turkmen economy and become more orientated towards the West . (E.H.)