BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 14
By Sadraddin Aghjayev - Trend:
It will be possible to quickly reach the trade turnover worth $15 billion between Azerbaijan and Turkey and attract big investments in the Azerbaijani economy through a shorter route between the two countries, permanent representative (national secretary) of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA Rufat Bayramov said in an interview with Trend.
Bayramov said that tens of thousands of new jobs will be created, which is very important for the integration of the Azerbaijani lands liberated from the Armenian occupation into Azerbaijan’s economy.
“Today, the only land route connecting Azerbaijan with Turkey is the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor,” the permanent representative added. “This route fully meets the needs of our country and fulfills the corresponding tasks.”
Bayramov stressed that a shorter route that will connect southern Turkey with Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan creates more opportunities for the development of the economies of Azerbaijan and Turkey.
“It will also expand trade between Turkey and the Central Asian countries,” the permanent representative said. “Today, Turkey and Azerbaijan face the task of increasing trade turnover up to $15 billion.”
Bayramov added that it will be possible to achieve this indicator faster through this corridor and attract big investments in the Azerbaijani economy, contributing to the creation of tens of thousands of jobs, which is very important for the integration of the liberated lands into Azerbaijan’s economy.
The permanent representative said that the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA tries to be very objective in the development of types of transport of the Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport corridor.
“Taking into account that the automotive sector is the most liberal among all transportation sectors, we try to pay special attention to it to help private carriers,” Bayramov said.
Bayramov said that despite the validity of certain international conventions in the field of rail or sea transport and the established routes and relationships, the work is underway to improve cargo transportation via railway or sea and create unified legal documents.
The permanent representative also stressed that Turkey, being a member of TRACECA, uses the CIM consignment note (Rail Transport Document) when transporting goods by railway while some other TRACECA member-states use the SMGS (Agreement on International Goods Transport by Rail).
“Therefore, when crossing the borders, it is necessary to re-register documents, spend time on this procedure,” Bayramov added. “It is very important to create a single database of documents for all types of transport.”
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