Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Turkmenistan has considered Azerbaijan's proposal on reduction of cargo transportation tariffs and made a 20-percent discount to Turkey for cargo transshipment through the Caspian Sea.

Nejat Fatih Sener, the Executive Director of Turkish International Transporters’ Association, said on March 28 that the Turkmen government made such a decision on a discount on March 25, Turkish media reported.

Sener, who was on a visit to Turkmenistan, discussed the promising areas of cooperation between the two countries in transportation and logistics.

Turkmen Foreign Ministry reported that during the meeting, Ankara and Ashgabat emphasized the importance of comprehensive cooperation between the transportation ministries for creating multilateral transportation and transit corridors.

Turkey, which is keen on close cooperation with Turkmenistan in the transport sector, intends to increase the cargo transportation with Ro-Ro vessels from Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan bypassing Iran.

Turkmenistan sees the transport sector as one of the main areas of cooperation with world countries given the advantageous geopolitical location of the country.

Besides the traditionally priority directions of the relations with strategic partners and neighbors, Turkmenistan is carefully studying the new possibilities of interaction with the Middle East countries, including the Persian Gulf.

However, today, major part of cargoes is transported through Russia and Kazakhstan to the Black Sea bypassing Turkmenistan. If Turkmenistan reconsiders to reduce tariffs, goods can be transported through its territory.

Turkmenistan is also eyeing to be an active partner and participant of the TRACECA program, since the creation of a western transportation corridor from Central Asia is of great importance for reviving the Great Silk Road.

Thus, if the tariffs are defined, it will be possible to provide access of goods to Europe via a new route, originating in Afghanistan and passing through the territory of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

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

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