Iran seeks to build car plant in Azerbaijan
By Laman Sadigova
Iran is expanding relations with Azerbaijan in different sectors.
Iran Khodro negotiates with the Azerbaijani side to build car assembly plant in Azerbaijan, IKCO Managing Director Hashem Yeke Zare told Trend.
“Currently, Iran Khodro exports cars to Azerbaijan, but at the same time the company plans to open a Complete Knock Down in the country,” he said.
Iran intends to get a license from the relevant Azerbaijani
authorities to build the assembly plant, he says.
"The plant will be built by using an Azerbaijani businessman’s
investments,” he said. “Cars will be assembled in Azerbaijan."
The company plans to begin car production in Azerbaijan roughly two
years after obtaining the license.
Zarem described company’s plans to manufacture 10,000 cars per year
in Azerbaijan, which will be exported.
He added that Iran plans to export 2,000 cars to Azerbaijan in
2015.
Iran Khodro Company manufactured around 360,000 cars in 2015 and
expects to increase this figure to 600,000 in 2015. This represents
a significant drop form the nearly 1.091 million cars that were
manufactured in Iran in 2014. The country hopes to bring this
figure to 3 million by 2025.
The number of cars exported to Azerbaijan from January to June 2015
was 17,640, or 48.7 percent less than in the same period of 2014,
according to the country’s State Customs Committee.
Car imports have continued to fall in Azerbaijan since introducing the Euro-4 ecological standard over a year ago. In the first half of 2015, the country imported 17,640 vehicles, compared to the 34,359 units in the same period last year.
The State Customs Committee reports that 15,745 out of the total number of vehicle imports in the first six months of this year were cars and motor vehicles.
Azerbaijan serves as an integral role in regional projects thanks to its advantageous geographical location. The active implementation of projects in energy and other sectors will allow Azerbaijan to enter a new market, which corresponds to an overall strategy to diversify the economy and reduce its dependence on oil and gas.
Iran, as a powerful oil country, has had little opportunity to improve cooperation with Azerbaijan in the various economic sectors due the international sanctions. After Iran becomes free from the Western sanctions, however, it will be open to further business agreements and relations.
Azerbaijan, in turn, represents a good example of a country with substantial experience in a number of fields.
Azerbaijan and Iran have already seen some progress and an economic delegation from Azerbaijan will travel to Iran on August 3. Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev will lead the delegation of both government and private sector officials. The minister will be accompanied by representatives of energy, transport, telecommunications, banking, and oil companies.
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