BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 21
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Iran has begun new discussions on a quadripartite agreement with Uzbekistan within the North-South Corridor, the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said, Trend reports citing the ministry.
The minister emphasized that cooperation between Uzbekistan, India, Afghanistan, and Iran will significantly increase trade in the North-South Corridor.
Eslami added that Iran, Afghanistan, and India are currently cooperating in a tripartite manner. The Chabahar port in southeastern Iran, which has access to the Indian Ocean, plays an important role in this cooperation. Iran has increased its cargo loading and unloading capacity in the port to 8.5 million tons annually.
Thus, the Chabahar port will play an important role in the cargo transportation from east to west via the North-South Corridor, as well as the Indian Ocean.
Reportedly, a total of 2.97 million tons of cargo were loaded and unloaded in the Chabahar port of the Sistan and Baluchestan Province (southeastern Iran) over the last Iranian year (from March 20, 2020, through March 20, 2021). This is a decrease of 0.6 percent compared to the preceding Iranian year (from March 21, 2019, through March 19, 2020).