Rasht, Iran, Sept. 19
By Temkin Jafarov, Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran welcomes foreign investments for developing the Anzali port located on the Caspian seashore.
Mehran Almasi, deputy head of Iran's northern Gilan province's ports and marine administration told Trend on Sept. 19 that foreign traders, in particular investors from neighboring countries can invest in different sectors in the port including packing and depots.
The Islamic Republic encourages foreign investors to implement various projects for developing the port and providing services for shipping lines, he added.
Almasi went on to add that so far only domestic investors have participated in the port's projects.
He expressed hope that in the future European investors and businessmen from neighboring countries to invest in the various projects in Anzali port.
Development of the Anzali port is among the Iranian administration's plans for boosting the Gilan province's transit capabilities. Farhad Montaser Kouhsar, the Director General of the Gilan province ports, said early in August that the capacity of Anzali port will increase from current level of 10 million metric tons per year to 17 million metric tons.
Anzali port as a part of Anzali Free Trade Zone is located in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) which joins Indian Ocean and the Gulf to the Caspian Sea through Iran and then reaches to St. Petersburg and North Europe via Russia.
According to the Iranian officials most trade exchanges from Anzali Free Trade Zone were made by Caucasian, East European, Latin American and North American countries as well as those bordering the Gulf and the Caspian Sea.