BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 30. A total of 1.05 quadrillion rials (about $25 billion) have been invested in Iran's maritime and port sectors in the last Iranian year (from March 21, 2023 through March 19, 2024), Iran's Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development and Chairman of Port and Maritime Organization Ali Akbar Safaei said, Trend reports.
According to him, 500 trillion rials (about $11.9 billion) of these investments were invested by the state, while 550 trillion rials (about $13.1 billion) were invested by the private sector.
The official added that with this investment of 130 trillion rials (about $3.1 billion), various facilities are ready for use and are scheduled to be put into operation soon.
Akbar Safaei said that last year, 9 million tons of cargo were transported in maritime trade with the Caspian littoral countries. This was 30 percent more than a year earlier (from March 21, 2022 through March 20, 2023). Among the Caspian littoral countries, Iran's maritime trade was high, mainly with Russia and Kazakhstan.
To note, the current throughput capacity of Iranian ports is more than 285 million tons. Iran is taking steps to increase port capacity by 500 million tons.
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