Tehran, Iran, March 12
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad – Trend:
Iran is making efforts to introduce models in order to encourage the Central Asian countries to transit their goods through the Persian Gulf country’s Chabahar Port City, an official said.
Responding to a question by Trend, the head of Chabahar Free Zone Organization, Abdolrahim Kordi, described Chabahr port city as the shortest route for Central Asia countries and Afghanistan to international waters.
Estimating that about 14-15 million tons of goods are transported between Central Asia and Africa, the Middle East as well as East Asia annually, he expressed hope that about half of this amount would be transited through Chabahr Port.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Kordi said that talks are underway with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Afghanistan to promote the issue of transit of goods through Iran.
In the meantime, Iran has inked an agreement with the Bishkek free trade zone to cooperate on cargo transit through Iran’s Chabahr.
Back in February, India and Iran inked a significant pact which gives New Delhi operational control of a part of the strategically located Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman for 18 months.
The first phase of the Chabahar port was inaugurated in December 2017. Chabahar provides India with an easier land-sea route to Afghanistan. The Indian government has committed to providing $500 million to develop the port.