Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 10
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
Azerbaijan and Iran agreed to establish a joint work group to discuss actions for linking railway lines as part of the North-South Transport Corridor and the creation of appropriate infrastructure on the two countries' border, Azerbaijani Economy and Industry Ministry said in a message Oct. 10.
The ministry said the agreement was reached at a meeting between Azerbaijan's Economy and Industry Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Iran's Communication and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi in Azerbaijani city of Astara.
The meeting was also attended by a number of high-ranking officials of the ministries of foreign affairs, transport, State Customs Committee, the State Border Service of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Railways JSC and the corresponding structures of Iran.
"These actions involve the construction of border railway lines in Azerbaijan and Iran, jointly constructing a border bridge, and building a terminal for cargo transhipment," read the message.
During the meeting, Mustafayev emphasized the development of political and economic relations between Azerbaijan and Iran and noted that the official visits of the presidents play an important role in the development of these relations.
"Following the reciprocal visits of the presidents, the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations entered a new stage of development," he said, adding that 22 documents have been signed between the two countries.
Moreover, the meeting of the Azerbaijani-Iranian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation was held, according to Mustafayev.
The minister noted that the main goal of the meeting is to discuss the issues related to the North-South transport corridor which plays an important role in expanding the transit potential of both Azerbaijan and Iran.
"Today, due to the lack of connection between the railways of Azerbaijan and Iran, the cargo from the border checkpoint is transported via cars," said Mustafayev.
By connecting their railways within the North-South project, the two countries will be able to increase the cargo and passenger transportation by many times and expand their bilateral economic cooperation, he added.
Vaezi for his part emphasized the high level of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan and stressed the role of the North-South international transport corridor.
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