Tehran, Iran, March.6
Trend:
The total capacity of Iranian ports is 230 million tons, while only half of this is used for transportation and transit between the countries of the region and the ECO (Economic Cooperation Organization) members, Iran`s Deputy Director of Ports and Maritime Organization Mohammad Hassanzadeh said.
“Transportation is an important factor in the development and economic growth of countries and an important factor in increasing their GDP. Trade relations between the countries of the region without development of transportation are meaningless,” Hassanzadeh said, Trend reports citing IRNA.
He reminded some of the commonalities among the ECO countries, saying that the strategic location of the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus, religious and historic commonalities as well as the efforts for development of combined transport could have a great impact on the development of ten ECO countries.
“The existence of energy-rich resources in some of these countries can greatly affect the development of economic relations,” Hassanzadeh noted.
He went on to add that trade and economic relations of these countries require the development of transport infrastructure, and the Chabahar port agreement between Iran, India and Afghanistan is one of the last steps in this regard.
"Combined transport has not developed among ECO countries in the past years, and the solution is the creation of legal frameworks to provide groundwork for multinational and international companies," he said.
The deputy director of the Ports and Maritime Organization said that this will generate income, capital and added value for these countries.
He emphasized that administrative and legal processes between the neighboring countries and the ECO should be facilitated.
“They also have to ratify effective laws and regulations and eliminate tariff barriers.”
The Economic Cooperation Organization or ECO is a Eurasian political and economic intergovernmental organization which was founded in 1984 in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade and investment opportunities.
In 1985 Iran, Pakistan and Turkey joined to form the ECO. By the fall of 1992, the ECO expanded to include seven new members; Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.