BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 15. Iran seeks to prepare a roadmap to increase annual transit with Azerbaijan to 15 million tons, Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh said at a meeting with Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev in Tehran on October 15, Trend reports.
According to her, the two countries are working hand in glove in the realms of transportation and logistics, not to mention their infrastructure projects, where they’re really hitting the ground running.
“Taking into account the existing border capacities on the highways between the two countries, Iran proposes that 1,000 trucks cross the Astara border, 800 trucks cross the Bileh Savar border, 700 trucks cross the Jolfa border, and 600 trucks cross the Poldasht border daily," she said.
Sadegh mentioned that to speed up the transportation process and give a leg up to the development of the transportation infrastructure between the two countries, it looks like signing a comprehensive cooperation agreement is the way to go. In this vein, we can get the ball rolling with some preparatory meetings, and we should have the agreement all wrapped up within the next month. In the same breath, a joint expert meeting on the development of port and maritime cooperation could be on the cards within the next month to tie up the loose ends of the initial text of the cooperation agreement.
Iran is prepared to organize the 16th meeting of the Joint Economic Commission between the two countries in Tehran as soon as feasible and maintain a focus on all areas of cooperation, according to the Iranian minister.
She stated that Iran is making progress toward the construction of the Rasht-Astara railroad as part of the international North-South corridor. It is believed that this railroad represents a significant turning point for transit in the corridor in question. Azerbaijan's involvement in the development of infrastructure associated with this railroad is of paramount significance.