Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 23
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran plans to turn Chabahar Port, located in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan on the coast of the Gulf of Oman, to the third car manufacturing hub of the country.
Akbar Torkan, Iran's Presidential Advisor and Secretary of the High Council of Free Zones, said the establishment of the third car manufacturing hub in Chabahar is on the agenda, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on Dec. 23.
"In this line, we are planning to start negotiating with world's renowned carmakers to launch assembly lines in Chabahar," he added.
Meanwhile, Iranian Industry Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said on Dec. 20 that Iran plans to reduce the number of car manufacturers through merging them.
The high number of car manufacturers is not beneficial to the country, he added.
"To make car production economically justified, we should move toward merging car manufacturers," he said.
He added that technological cooperation with foreign partners is necessary.
Iran's automobile output faced a 40 percent decrease in 2012 due to the sanctions. The country was Asia's fifth largest car manufacturer in 2011, with a total output of 1,648,505.
Western countries suspended certain sanctions against Iran as the Geneva nuclear deal came into force on January 20. Iran was permitted to import materials for its auto-manufacturing sector as a result of the nuclear deal implementation, which has led to a sharp increase in the country's auto output.
Some 722,325 cars have been produced in Iran during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 21- Nov. 21), 69.8 percent more year on year.