Tehran, Iran, July 11
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad, A. Shirazi - Trend:
An Azerbaijani economic delegation is planned to visit Iran’s northern ports over the next two months, Director General of Amirabad Ports and Maritime Organization and Special Economic Zone Siavash Rezvani said.
“Azerbaijan recently activated one of its biggest ports, and we were briefed about it during a recent trip to the country,” Rezvani told Trend on July 11.
We are coordinating an upcoming meeting by a trade delegation from Azerbaijan, he added, noting that the visit is scheduled to take place over the next two months.
Earlier, the deputy at the Ports and Maritime Organization said the Iranian northern ports of Anzali and Caspian will soon be turned to two major marine tourism hubs in the country.
A 10-mile tourism route stretched from the port of Anzali in Gilan province to the Caspian Sea coastline in Mazandaran Province will be created in the near future, Hadi Haghshenas said.
While Gilan's marine tourism potential has been known for years, it wasn't until 2015 that plans were finally put in motion, thanks to the involvement of the private sector.
Gilan's 300-kilometer coastline stretches from Chaboksar to Astara, but it's lacking in tourism infrastructure. However, the proposed plans aim to remedy the problem by financing projects in Anzali, Chamkhaleh and Astara.
The popular province has 87 hotels, 23 hotel apartments, 47 inns, 233 roadside diners and cafes, and 53 travel agencies.
Iran’s coastal regions have the potential to attract 3 million foreign visitors a year, according to tourism and environment officials.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rezvani said Iran has been transiting cement bags from Amirabad zone to Georgia via Azerbaijan since last month.
“So far, 6,000 tons of freight have been exported to Azerbaijan through sea routes and later to Georgia”.
Expressing hope that the transactions will continue, he said 60 percent of Iran’s exports from northern ports belongs to Amirabad port and that the officials of the port are taking major steps to facilitate and boost export.
Amirabad is currently the largest port facility on the Caspian shore and the third largest port in Iran. The 1,000-hectare port currently has nine berths, which can accommodate Ro-Ro vessels, trains and trucks.