Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27
By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend:
The International North-South Transport Corridor in its design has indisputable competitive advantage over the traditional route from the Baltic countries to India, Russian economy expert Leonid Khazanov told Trend Dec. 27.
He said that this corridor allows reducing the time and cost of delivery of goods by 35-40 percent and the distance twice.
Khazanov added that thanks to the North-South project, the cargo turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan may increase.
“The potential cargo turnover along this corridor can be estimated at 20-30 million tons per year, and Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran will play the main role in it,” he said.
However, for the practical implementation of the project, it is necessary not only to develop the ports of the Caspian Sea, but also accelerate customs clearance, he noted.
“The projects being implemented allow looking at the future of the North-South corridor with optimism - after all, it is beneficial to many countries, and Russia and Azerbaijan will be able to greatly benefit from it,” said Khazanov.
Moreover, the expert noted that the North-South project may have three different routes at once: the western route (actually passing along the historical Caspian trade route), the eastern (via Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and the Trans-Caspian route.
The North-South corridor is designed for the transportation of goods from India and the Gulf countries to Russia, Western Europe, the Baltic and Scandinavian countries. Cargo transportation by sea through the Persian Gulf, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea to Helsinki is carried out within 45-60 days, while the North-South corridor decreases the delivery time to 20-25 days.
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