BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 9
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Iran may be left out of international transit routes such as the “Silk Road” in the near future, if it does not strengthen its presence and transit in international corridors, Director General of the Transit and International Affairs Department of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization (RMTO) Javad Hedayati told ISNA, Trend reports.
Hedayati emphasized that more importantly if Iran does not accede to international conventions and agreements on transit corridors, Iran's transit will be prevented in the near future. As a result, Iran will have to use trucks from other countries. This means that in the future, Iran's transit may be reduced to such an extent that it does not matter whether it exists or not.
“Although Iran has many potentials, such as access to international waters, roads in different directions, trucks, and so on, the failure to activate these potentials results in loss,” he added.
The director general noted that several issues need to be addressed to increase and develop transit. So, political and economic relations with other countries, especially with neighboring countries, need to be strengthened to increase participation in regional and international corridors.
“On the other hand, certain loans should be provided to Iranian drivers, and the country's trade should be electronic in order to reduce transit time and costs,” Hedayati said.
According to him, for example, if a truck costs $20,000, the cost of buying and importing it should be reduced. However, currently, a driver has to pay 8-10 times more than that price to buy a truck. For this reason, that driver cannot compete with drivers from other countries.
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