Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.12
By Temkin Jafarov - Trend:
Iran invites Azerbaijan to invest in the construction of Julfa-Gulubeyli-Aslanduz railway, Saeed Shabestari, deputy governor general of Iran's East Azarbaijan province told Trend on Nov.12.
He said it is planned to construct a new railway bridge in the Gulubeyli region.
Iran's Gulubeyli and Aslanduz settlements border with Azerbaijan's Gazakhlar and Horadiz villages.
The new railway will link Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with Azerbaijan's Fizuli region through Iran's territory and will contribute to the development of economic relations of Iran with Caucasus countries and Russia, according to Shabestari.
The deputy governor said that this railway can also be an alternative to Qazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran) -Astara (Azerbaijan) railway, shorten the distance and reduce the cost of transportation, which is beneficial for the entrepreneurs of the two countries.
"The distance between Julfa and Gulubeyli is nearly 180 kilometers and the distance between Gulubeyli and Aslanduz is 30-40 kilometers. The construction of this railway is beneficial for both countries," Shabestari added.
He said Chinese companies are assessing the cost of construction of the Julfa-Gulubeyli-Aslanduz railway.
The deputy governor added that Iran would like Azerbaijani investors to participate in the tender for construction of the railway and make investments in this project.
Governor General of East Azarbaijan province Alireza Beigi said in 2010 that Iranian government has worked out a plan for construction of a railway between Julfa and Bilasuvar. Iran has also created Araz free economic zone. And the program for the development of the free trade zone envisages the construction of the mentioned railway.
Moreover, Azerbaijan and Iran have reached an agreement to open Aslanduz-Horadiz border checkpoint. Once this border checkpoint is put into operation, the distance between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic will be reduced to 120 kilometers.
The two countries plan to construct a new bridge on the Aslanduz-Horadiz border checkpoint to carry out cargo transportation.
There are six border checkpoints on the Iranian-Azerbaijani border and five of them are in operation (Julfa, Shakhtakhty, Astara, Bilasuvar and Imishli), while the Horadiz customs point hasn't been operating for many years.