Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

The Turkmen parliament has ratified a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Iranian government on cooperation in the field of trade shipping in the Caspian Sea.

The document was signed during Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's official visit to Tehran in November 2015, the Turkmen government reported.

Turkmenistan’s statistics show that the trade turnover with Iran exceeded $2.62 billion in the first nine months of 2015. This figure is 2.2 percent more compared to the same period of 2014.

During Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Ashgabat in March last year, the two countries agreed to increase the volume of trade turnover to $60 billion in the coming 10 years.

Moreover, a number of large-scale joint projects have been implemented by the two countries during the years-long cooperation.

In general, Iran is keen on expanding mutual cooperation with Central Asian countries in various fields, in particular, in the field of rail transport.

In this regard, the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, which is the part of the North-South international transport corridor, was constructed with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank. It is 925 kilometers long, with 85 kilometers in Iran's territory, 700 kilometers in Turkmenistan, and the remaining 140 kilometers in Kazakhstan.

Preliminary estimates show that annually, 3-5 million metric tons of cargo will be transported via this route. In the long term, this figure will increase to 10-12 million metric tons.

This railway joins the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea through Iran and then continues to St. Petersburg and northern Europe via Russia.

Experts lauded the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway as a success, calling it beneficial for the three countries in terms of developing ties and increasing trade between them.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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