Baku, Azerbaijan, July 22
By Emil Ilgar – Trend:
Iran and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on transportation sector, IRNA reported July 22.
The MOU, inked in Japan, stipulates the long-term cooperation on building road infrastructures, exchanging experience and technology, and cooperating in infrastructural projects, said the report.
The document was signed during Iranian Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan’s trip to Japan.
Iran says it has chalked up a plan for $25 billion of investment to modernize and expand its railway network.
On the other hand, Iran has road projects, including one for a 1,200-km road, connecting Persian Gulf to Turkey’s borders.
ANAS, Italy’s state-owned national roads and highway construction company, and Iran’s Transportation Ministry signed a document July 21 to cooperate for construction of a 1,200-km highway connecting the Bandar-e Imam Khomeini, a key port on the shores of the Persian Gulf, to Bazargan City on the border with Turkey.
Ali Nourzad, Iranian deputy transport minister, said a domestic constructor will launch a construction project for the first and second stretches of the highway after the deal is finalized.
He added that the construction of the first and second stretches will take about four years.
According to Iranian media reports, the deal is estimated to be worth 3.6 billion euros.
Reuters earlier reported that the first stretch of the highway, covering 350 km, will be completed by 2022 at a cost of 600 million euros.