Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 28
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran and Turkmenistan agreed to triple the two-way rail transit over the next three years.
Based on the agreement, the inauguration of the Gorgan-Incheh Borun Railway will increase the volume of transit from currently 3 million metric tons to 10 million metric tons, Iran's IRIB reported on Feb. 28.
Iran's transport minister Abbas Akhoundi said that currently 500 trucks from the two sides are transiting goods per day. The number of trucks will increase to 1,000 based on the agreement, he added.
According to him, building 700 kilometers of freeway by Iranian companies in Turkmenistan and a power plant to transmit electricity from Marv to Mashhad were also agreed.
Deputy Director of Iran's Construction & Development of Infrastructures Transportation Company (CDITC) Seyed Masoud Nasr Azadani said in Nov. that some 1.3 trillion rials (some $40.6 million based on the exchange rate of US dollar at the free market) have been invested in Gorgan-Inche Borun Railway project.
"The railroad aims at transferring 14 million metric tons of goods annually," he explained.
Iran and Turkmenistan seek to double their trade exchanges to $10 billion in the near future.
The Islamic Republic exports machinery, construction materials, sedans, buses, food stuff, agricultural and petrochemical products, electrical products and home appliances to Turkmenistan, and imports natural gas, electricity, textiles and agricultural products from its northern neighbor.
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