Azerbaijan sees growth in cargo transportation
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
The volume of cargo transportation by all types of vehicles in Azerbaijan increased by 1.6 percent year-on-year in the period of January-November, amounting to 212.8 million tons, local media reported.
The share of non-state transport enterprises accounted for 82.5 percent, while the rest 17.5 percent - the share of the public sector.
At the same time, the volume of freight traffic from non-governmental transport enterprises increased by 1.7 percent year-on-year.
During the reporting period, 13.87 million tons (including transit cargo) were transported by rail, which is 9.7 percent more than that in January-November 2018.
Almost five and a half (5.4 million) tons of various cargoes (a 28.1 percent decline) were transported by sea, 140.18 million tons by road (a 3 percent increase), and 181.200 tons by air (a 1.1 percent decline).
During the above-mentioned time span, 35.5 million tons of oil was transported via domestic pipelines (a decline of 6.6 percent). The remaining volume of transportation fell on gas pipelines.
Azerbaijan has become the transport and logistics hub of the region due to the effective steps taken in recent years.
In recent years, the country has stepped up work to increase its transit potential, to create a modern infrastructure that provides international transportation, and upgrade its transport fleet.
Presently, several routes from the East to Europe pass through the territory of Azerbaijan. Among such projects are the International North-South Transport Corridor, which is designed to transport goods from India and the Persian Gulf countries to Russia, Western Europe, the Baltic and Scandinavian countries.
In addition, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway built at the initiative of Azerbaijan, which is part of the East-West Corridor, allows supplying cargo to Europe. Another example is the Lapis Lazuli route, which runs from Afghanistan to Turkey and further to Europe.
The implementation of important infrastructure projects not only increases the economic power of Azerbaijan but also strengthens its international image.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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