BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 16
By Sadraddin Aghjayev - Trend:
Azerbaijan expects a big effect from the opening of the Zangazur corridor in terms of export, as well as an increase in the competitiveness of goods that are produced in the country, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov told CBC TV channel, Trend reports on Dec. 16.
The minister added that opening of the Zangazur corridor meets the economic interests of all regional countries.
“Azerbaijan has made big investments in the transport and logistics infrastructure over the past two decades,” Jabbarov said.
“On one hand, the reason is that our country does not have access to the open sea, as well as it is necessary for the development of transport infrastructure,” the minister said.
The minister said that Azerbaijan is a member-state of such routes as East-West, North-South and in this case the Zangazur corridor plays a unique role because it is the point where we see the intersection of both the North-South route and the East-West route.
“Within the Zangazur corridor, we are talking about the restoration of the infrastructure that existed previously,” Jabbarov said.
“Even today, given the lack of direct railway, a big volume of goods are supplied through the North-South route,” the minister added.
“This land route opens additional opportunities for cargo transportation by individual provinces of Iran, Turkey and other regional countries,” Jabbarov said.
The minister stressed that the export of the Azerbaijani non-oil products increased because the country is working on trade and economic agreements.
“For example, an agreement on preferential trade was concluded in early 2020 and entered into force between Azerbaijan and Turkey, according to which the range of goods which are supplied to the Turkish market has grown sharply,” Jabbarov said.
“The export volumes greatly increased because Azerbaijani goods are supplied to the Turkish market with zero duty or the smallest duty,” the minister said.
Jabbarov said that as a result of the shortening of the route and the route between Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan goods will be actively supplied to the markets.
“I would like to stress that Nakhchivan goods are now being exported to Turkey, Iran, and opportunities are being created for supplying goods to the Black Sea ports,” the minister said. “The opening of these corridors is in the economic interests of all regional countries.”
The minister said that in this regard, the potential that is being created for the mutual trade turnover of the regional countries for closer integration of the economies cannot be overestimated.
“A stable transport and logistics system clearly affects the dynamics of export and the range of export goods,” Jabbarov added.
The minister said that the further development of railway and highway is the natural continuation of the economic development and integration of the regional countries.
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