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North-South corridor to boost Azerbaijan's currency inflow

Business Materials 19 May 2016 16:01 (UTC +04:00)
In the first year of operation of the North-South international transportation corridor, Azerbaijan will be able to get $50-70 million per year.
North-South corridor to boost Azerbaijan's currency inflow

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 19

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

In the first year of operation of the North-South international transportation corridor, Azerbaijan will be able to get $50-70 million per year, Javid Gurbanov, head of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, said in an interview with The Business Year magazine.

"This project will connect the Persian Gulf with Malacca Bay through a multimodal transport system, as well as provide a connection to St. Petersburg and Helsinki through older railways built in Soviet times," he said. "We will be connected to Mumbai Port and Bandar Abbas Port."

"Current figures indicate that there are 5 million tons of cargo moving between India and Europe and about 7-9 million tons between Russia and Iran. We would enjoy the opportunity to be involved in some of this activity," Gurbanov added.

He noted that in the first year of operation of the new railway, it is planned to transport 2-5 million tons of cargo, with plans to increase capacity up to 20 million tons in the future.

"This effort will require some renovations and we will need to see the construction of additional facilities alongside some new, technical solutions," said the head of Azerbaijan Railways.

The North-South corridor will boost Azerbaijan's currency inflow and work to create new employment opportunities for Azerbaijani citizens, according to Gurbanov.

"If we can handle 2-5 million tons, we will be able to get $50-70 million and create 2,000-3,000 new jobs dealing with railways, maintenance, and so on," he added.

The North-South transportation corridor is meant to connect the Northern Europe with South-Eastern Asia. It will serve as a link for connecting the railways of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov

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