Car plant groundbreaking ceremony held in Azerbaijan (PHOTO)

Neftchala, Azerbaijan, Aug. 6

By Azad Hasanli – Trend:

A groundbreaking ceremony for construction of a joint Azerbaijani-Iranian car plant was held Aug. 6 in Azerbaijan’s Neftchala industrial quarter.

The plant is a joint project of Azerbaijan’s AzEuroCar LLC and Iran’s giant automaker Iran Khodro.

Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh participated in the groundbreaking ceremony.

Mustafayev said that total cost of the project is $15 million, 25 percent of which will be provided by the Iranian side.

Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, in turn, noted that both countries have great potential for development of economic cooperation and this potential should be used effectively.

“This groundbreaking ceremony is a clear example of that,” he added.

The minister expressed satisfaction with the conditions created for entrepreneurs in the Neftchala industrial quarter. He invited other Iranian companies to take advantage of these conditions.

Then AzEuroCar LLC and Iran Khodro signed six documents covering licensing, distribution, installation of equipment, engineering and technical support, and other issues necessary for car production.

The documents were signed by the head of AzEuroCar LLC Emin Akhundov and Director General of Iran Khodro Hashem Yeke Zare.

The plant will be built in an area of 10 hectares. At the first stage the plant will provide jobs for 300 people and at the second stage the number of employees will rise up to 500.

Twenty percent of the produced cars will be exported. The cars produced at the plant will meet Euro 5 standard.

Four Iranian car brands of Dena, Runna, Soren and Samand will be produced at the new plant, which will have a capacity of 10,000 cars a year.

The project is being implemented on the basis of a memorandum of understanding signed on Apr. 21, 2016.