Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 21
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
The Deputy Managing Director of Iran's Construction and Development of Transport Infrastructure Company Hassan Ahmad Nouri said the company is in talks with foreign investors to fund the Hamedan-Kermanshah-Khosravi corridor, Mehr news agency reported Feb. 21.
The official said the company is trying to contract the project to a foreign investor since domestic banks expect a fund return within eight years, whereas situations allow the projects' funds to be returned in no less than 15 years.
Nouri said that 1,900 kilometers of freeway is under study across Iran. Some 600 kilometers of freeway is under construction, he added.
"We have 2,316 kilometers of freeway operational, which currently constitute one percent of the country's roads," the official stated.
He noted that the financial value of the Iranian freeways is 20 percent of the whole country's road network value, making 260 trillion rials (2,760 rials making $1).
Iran will build its biggest highway 1,700 kilometers long connecting the country's north to south by 2017.
The main road will start at Chabahar in the southeast and extend to Mashhad city in the northeast.