BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 21
By Sadraddin Aghjayev - Trend:
Maritime transport, which is one of the important components of Azerbaijan's economy, plays an important role in the socio-economic development of the country, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan told Trend.
The ministry said that the importance of sea transport in cargo transportation in international transport corridors passing through Azerbaijan is related to the low cost of cargo transportation by sea transport compared to other types of transport and the relatively high carrying capacity of ships.
“Successfully implemented initiatives to enhance the role of the Caspian Sea in cargo transportation, improve the transport infrastructure in Azerbaijan, modernize the transport fleet, control ship standards, as well as organize high-level management of ship traffic systems in the seaport water area and in all territorial waters of Azerbaijan as a whole serve to increase the potential of the country in the field of maritime transport,” the ministry message reads.
The message also stressed that work continues to take the necessary measures to strengthen the leading positions of Azerbaijan as a logistics and transport center and increase its competitiveness, as well as to develop all transport corridors passing through the country, and to increase the volume and quality of transit traffic on these corridors.
In order to attract cargoes transported in the direction of China and Europe to the route passing through the Caspian Sea, the Trans-Caspian international transport route was created, said the ministry.
“The signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea also contributes to the development and expansion of transport corridors in the region. The Caspian Sea plays an important role in a number of projects aimed at developing international transport corridors. For this reason, the convention also takes into account the importance of realizing the transit potential of the Caspian Sea. Thus, the convention recognizes the right to free navigation, the right of free access to the world's oceans from the Caspian Sea to other seas, and the sovereign rights of the transit country, as well as free access to the ports of the parties,” added the ministry.
“Thanks to the favorable position of Azerbaijan on the main trade routes, large-scale state investments were made in the construction at a high level of the Baku International Sea Trade Port, which was put into operation as one of the targeted measures to use the transit potential. This, in turn, plays an important role in the development of the transport infrastructure of Azerbaijan and its adaptation to modern world standards, increasing transit opportunities and turning the country into an important transport and logistics hub in the region,” the ministry emphasized.
The message added that transit corridors contribute to the development of multimodal transportation in the region, which, in turn, optimizes the process of safe delivery of goods in terms of time and financial costs.
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