Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 21
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
The Iranian minister of transportation, Abbas Akhoundi, has discussed the issues of abolishing visa for drivers, North-South Corridor as well as civil aviation with visiting Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev at a meeting in Tehran.
Saying that Iran has already removed the visa requirement for drivers from Azerbaijan, Akhoundi called on Baku to mutually abolish visa requirements for Iranian drivers, IRNA news agency reported.
Abbas Akhoundi touched upon the plans for connecting the railways of Iran and Azerbaijan saying Tehran has taken measures to speed up the process for connecting the railways.
Speaking about plans to construct a new terminal along Iran and Azerbaijan border in Astara, he said the new terminal will create the opportunity to travel to Turkey by train through Astara.
He pointed to the North-South Corridor, and said Iran, Azerbaijan, as well as Georgia share common interests in connecting the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf.
Akhundi also called for increasing the number of weekly flights between Iran and Azerbaijan which currently stands at 10 flights per week.
North-South transport corridor is intended to connect Northern Europe to Southeastern Asia. It will serve as a link to connect the railways of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia.
It is planned to transport six million tons of cargo per year via the North-South corridor in the first phase, and 15-20 million tons of cargo in the future.