Heads of Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia to mull North-South corridor
By Trend
The meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran will be devoted to the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told reporters in Baku on October 30.
“The first meeting, as you remember, was held in Baku, and now there will be a meeting in Tehran,” Mammadyarov said. “The sides express great interest in this issue. Azerbaijan even agrees to allocate a loan to Iran for the construction of the remaining section of the railway. Masoud Karbasian, Iranian minister of economic affairs and finance, new co-chairman of the Azerbaijan-Iran Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, has recently visited Baku. As far as I know, the conditions for granting the loan were discussed in detail with our economy ministry. I think that all these issues will be also discussed at the meeting of the presidents.”
Mammadyarov noted that this project is of great interest not only for its participants, but also for such exporters as India or Vietnam.
“I didn’t even know that Vietnam’s export potential is $204 billion, more than $42 billion of which account for export to Europe,” Mammadyarov added.
The International North-South Transport Corridor is meant to connect Northern Europe with Southeast Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia.
At the initial stage, it is planned to transport 5 million tons of cargo per year through the corridor and over 10 million tons of cargo in the future.
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