BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 31. Türkiye’s Consul General in Mashhad (Iran), Fatih Topchu, met with Iranian officials to address the problem of prolonged waiting hours for Turkish transporters heading to Central Asia via Iran at Lotfabad customs on the Turkmenistan border, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmen media.
As a result of these negotiations, an increase in cargo traffic through this customs point is expected, thanks to which the delivery of goods from Türkiye to Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries will significantly accelerate and increase.
The parties reached an agreement on increasing working hours to speed up registration at the border in agreement with Turkmenistan and increasing the number of vehicles allowed to cross the border during the day.
Furthermore, an agreement was reached providing for the issuance of fuel cards to non-Iranian citizens to simplify the purchase of fuel, as well as an agreement on the abolition of changing trailers, which will significantly reduce the time for crossing the border.
Iranian officials said trucks will now be allowed to leave the Lotfabad customs border checkpoint after they are registered online, and trucks carrying hazardous materials and perishable goods will be given priority to simplify the customs clearance process.
Meanwhile, in a recent meeting with border authorities from Turkmenistan, Iranian officials made several suggestions to improve border efficiency as well.