Coordinating Council for transit cargo established in Azerbaijan
By Nigar Orujova
The Coordinating Council on transit cargo was established in Azerbaijan, the region's future transport-hub.
President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the establishment of the council and approved its staff on October 21.
Minister of Economy and Industry Shahin Mustafayev was appointed the council chairman.
Azerbaijan, which enjoys favorable geographic position, wants to switch to the ‘one contact’ principle in the flow of transit goods through the country by rail, maritime transport, ports and marine terminals.
The newly established Coordinating Council on transit cargo will monitor the application of the principle for the carriage of transit goods via Azerbaijan.
The relevant authorities were instructed to resolve issues arising from the decree.
The Economy and Industry Ministry in two months will prepare tariffs for services on transit cargo transportation through railways and sea transport, as well as the procedure for determining the privileges on these tariffs.
Moreover, an e- portal will be established to reflect single tariffs for cargo transportation, border-crossing procedures, the terms and conditions of cargo, including the terms of contract and procedures for its conclusion.
In addition, it will be possible to conclude the contract of cargo transportation by electronic means and deal with other issues related to the process of transportation and cargo tracking.
Azerbaijan plays a leading role not only in large-scale projects focused on the transportation of oil and gas, but in goods transportation as well, being a major part of a global corridor from China to Europe.
Today, with a decline in oil prices in the background, Azerbaijan is obtaining positive results from a policy on transition into transportation hub for the region, which began about 15 years ago. Considerable funds have been poured into this large-scale project. The capitalization of the transport sector exceeded $20 billion in the last decade.
Experts believe that the realization of such a global project will contribute to the diversification of the economy, a reduction of dependence on the oil sector, and help the private sector, strengthening the country’s role in the region.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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