Baku, Azerbaijan, July 18
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
Iran and Azerbaijan are expected to launch transporting goods and cargos through the International North-South Transport Corridor in the coming months, amid efforts to boost trade ties between the two neighboring countries.
Mohammad Ebrahimi, economic consultant at Iranian Embassy in Baku, told Trend that the goal of cooperation between the two neighboring countries will be fulfilled in the near future as the construction of Qazvin-Rasht railway segment which is an essential part of a worthwhile project to connect the two countries’ railroads is almost completed and it will come on stream soon.
In the meantime, the official forecasted that the under construction cargo terminals at Iran’s Astara railway station will be inaugurated in the near future.
The transportation of goods through the corridor will be launched shortly after completing of the inauguration of cargo terminals in Astara, Ebrahimi added.
Iran and Azerbaijan, within the International North-South Transportation Corridor, are making efforts to connect the two countries’ railways through Qazvin-Rasht-Astara route.
Azerbaijan earlier agreed to provide 60 million euros for developing railway facilities in Iranians city of Astara.
To complete the railway links of the transportation corridor, Iran had earlier agreed to construct inland railway segments in northern parts of the country in order to extend its railway network to the border area with the neighboring Azerbaijan through the two cities of Astara on both sides.
The initial plan included Qazvin-Rasht and Rasht-Astara railway segments. In the meantime, Azerbaijan has launched a construction project to extend its railway into Iran’s territory.
However, the sides still need to discuss the financing of the project for the construction of the 164 kilometer-long railway segment linking the two Iranian cities of Rasht and Astara.
According to the data available on the website of State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, trade turnover between Iran and Azerbaijan over the last year surged by 78 percent to reach $221.2 million.
Tehran and Baku are apparently making efforts to boom trade turnover through the expansion of bilateral cooperation.