BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec.2
By Fidan Babayeva – Trend:
Cargo traffic to and from Azerbaijan, including the traffic via the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), is carried out regularly despite on the COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions on passenger transportation, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan told Trend.
According to the ministry, after the completion of the planned projects and a further increase in the volume of cargo transportation along the INSTC project’s route, it’s possible that some states, including the countries of Central and Southeast Asia, will also join in.
“Within the project, it is planned to start construction of a road bridge on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border, which will be carried out within one year,” a representative of the ministry said.
The ministry also reminded that the construction of the Baku-Guba-Russian state border highway continues and is planned to be completed by the end of 2021.
“Azerbaijan has finished on its territory all the work related to the implementation of the important North-South transport project, which opens up good prospects for cooperation in the region and will significantly reduce the distance and delivery time of goods from India, Pakistan, Iran and other countries of the Persian Gulf to the countries of Northern and Western Europe and in the opposite direction,” said the ministry.
The foundation of the North-South Transport Corridor was laid on September 12, 2000, in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India. Azerbaijan joined this agreement in 2005. In general, this agreement was ratified by 13 countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Armenia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Ukraine.
The goal of the corridor is to shorten the delivery time for goods from India to Russia, as well as to Northern and Western Europe (delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks, through the North-South this figure is expected to be 3 weeks).
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