BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 3
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Iran intends to increase transit through the country within the North-South Corridor, Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said, Trend reports citing the ministry.
The minister emphasized that Iran also wants to increase transit with countries that have signed trilateral and quadrilateral agreements with Iran in the field of transit. Iran has signed agreements with 12 countries, including Ukraine, India, Russia, Uzbekistan and others.
Eslami added that the volume of cargo transported through the North-South Corridor to India and Russia amounted to 90 million tons over last Iranian year (from March 20, 2020 through March 20, 2021). Iran's share in the cargo transportation is 10-15 percent.
“Iran attaches great importance to cooperation with neighboring countries in the field of transit. Thus, as a result of the work, the wagons will stay at the border for a maximum of 7 days. While in the past, wagons stayed at the border for more than 60 days,” he said.
Eslami noted that Chabahar port has a very important role among Iranian ports. This port helps to reduce distances between neighboring countries. At present, the loading/unloading capacity of the Chabahar port is 8.5 million tons annually. This figure was 2.4 million tons in the preceding Iranian year (from March 21, 2019 through March 19, 2020).
According to the minister, Iran has established a shipping line in the Caspian Sea. The creation of this shipping line has created great opportunities in the economic sphere.