18 October 2011
Freight train on the Bandar Abbas-Almaty Corridor was inaugurated on Monday in a ceremony attended by minister of road and urban construction, managing director of Railways of Islamic Republic of Iran and the representatives of ECO member states and international organizations.
Addressing representatives of ECO member states in Bandar Abbas, Hormuzgan province on Monday Ali Nikzad explained that Bandar Abbas-Almaty Corridor which extends 3,766 km, has the capacity to transfer two million tons of commodities annually, Moj News Agency reported.
He said the launching of the rail-sea corridor will open a new chapter in the transportation sector in the ECO region.
Iran has invested large amount in this corridor including the Bogie change installation located at international border stations of Jolfa and Sarakhs, launching 800-kilometer Bafq-Mashhad Railroad in 2005 which reduced access of Central Asian countries to free waters by 1,000 km, he pointed out.
He listed special discounts on marine and port charges to Central Asian nations, facilities in southern ports such as reducing the tariffs for ships carrying transit commodities in Bandar Abbas and Chabahar, suitable cooperation with nations along the route (for example Sarakhs route tariff has not increased in the past 15 years) as the measures taken by Iran to increase the transit of commodities.
He pointed out that transit of goods to and from neighboring states will reach 12 million tons in the current Iranian year (to end March 2012), adding the figure stood at 10 million tons in the year ending March 20, Mehr News Agency wrote.
The minister continued that Iran which has over 20 international borders with its neighbors, conducts the largest amount of transit.
Iran seeks to increase the cargo transit to 30 million tons in coming years, he mentioned.
Priorities
Meanwhile, managing director of Railways of Islamic Republic of Iran said developing corridor and transit railroads to increase the transit of goods is one priority of expanding railroad network of Iran.
Abdolali Saheb-Mohammadi pointed out that Iran has been considered as a crossroad linking East to West.
It is bounded by oil producing states in the south, Caspian oilfields in the north , Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east, and Turkey and Iraq in the west, he said.
Bandar Abbas-Almaty Corridor is one of the main corridors linking Persian Gulf states and South East Asian nations to Central Asia which stretches from Bandar Abbas to Kazakhstan traversing Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, he said.
He explained that close to 1,619km of the proposed corridor is located in Iran, 449 km in Turkmenistan, 732 km in Uzbekistan and 956 km in Kazakhstan.
He pointed out that equipping Sarakhs border station in Iran and Turkmenistan can facilitate transportation in this corridor.
Islamic Republic of Iran Railroads can transfer 7 million tons of goods by spending $60 million to equip Sarakhs station, he said. With the increase in Turkmenistan railroad facilities, the figure could reach 10 million tons, he added.
Iran-China Rail Corridor Soon
Speaking at the same gathering, deputy secretary general of ECO, Altaf Asghar, announced that feasibility studies on a new corridor between ECO member states have been conducted, adding that Iran-China railroad corridor will be lunched in the near future.
The remarks were made in a meeting among Asghar, Hormuzgan Governor General Ebrahim Azizi, Tajikistan's Ambassador in Tehran Dowlat-Ali Hatamov and a number of ECO's economic representatives in Bandar Abbas on Monday, Moj News Agency wrote.
Addressing the meeting, Asghar referred to a new railroad corridor connecting Iran to China via Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and said once launched, the corridor will entail major developments in economic and commercial interactions among ECO member states.
"Iran donated $1 million to ECO to conduct feasibility studies of the corridor," he said. "Once Tajikistan's Metra Company completes the studies, establishment and construction of the railroads will begin in cooperation with the five countries."
Pointing to Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul container train service, he said since the project was enthusiastically welcomed by ECO's private sectors, the services of the train increased from once a month to twice.
"With the inauguration of Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul railroad, the road corridor among the three countries has also been launched," Asghar added.
He announced an agreement has been reached among Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan to launch a financial transit mechanism for traders of the four countries.
"The mechanism will be officially operational within the next few months," Asghar said. He also invited Tajikistan to join the plan.
ECO International Conference on Logistics and Transit Development was held in Bandar Abbas, Hormuzgan province, on October 17.
Freight train on the Bandar Abbas-Almaty Corridor was inaugurated on Monday in a ceremony attended by minister of road and urban construction, managing director of Railways of Islamic Republic of Iran and the representatives of ECO member states and international organizations.
Addressing representatives of ECO member states in Bandar Abbas, Hormuzgan province on Monday Ali Nikzad explained that Bandar Abbas-Almaty Corridor which extends 3,766 km, has the capacity to transfer two million tons of commodities annually, Moj News Agency reported.
He said the launching of the rail-sea corridor will open a new chapter in the transportation sector in the ECO region.
Iran has invested large amount in this corridor including the Bogie change installation located at international border stations of Jolfa and Sarakhs, launching 800-kilometer Bafq-Mashhad Railroad in 2005 which reduced access of Central Asian countries to free waters by 1,000 km, he pointed out.
He listed special discounts on marine and port charges to Central Asian nations, facilities in southern ports such as reducing the tariffs for ships carrying transit commodities in Bandar Abbas and Chabahar, suitable cooperation with nations along the route (for example Sarakhs route tariff has not increased in the past 15 years) as the measures taken by Iran to increase the transit of commodities.
He pointed out that transit of goods to and from neighboring states will reach 12 million tons in the current Iranian year (to end March 2012), adding the figure stood at 10 million tons in the year ending March 20, Mehr News Agency wrote.
The minister continued that Iran which has over 20 international borders with its neighbors, conducts the largest amount of transit.
Iran seeks to increase the cargo transit to 30 million tons in coming years, he mentioned.
Priorities
Meanwhile, managing director of Railways of Islamic Republic of Iran said developing corridor and transit railroads to increase the transit of goods is one priority of expanding railroad network of Iran.
Abdolali Saheb-Mohammadi pointed out that Iran has been considered as a crossroad linking East to West.
It is bounded by oil producing states in the south, Caspian oilfields in the north , Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east, and Turkey and Iraq in the west, he said.
Bandar Abbas-Almaty Corridor is one of the main corridors linking Persian Gulf states and South East Asian nations to Central Asia which stretches from Bandar Abbas to Kazakhstan traversing Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, he said.
He explained that close to 1,619km of the proposed corridor is located in Iran, 449 km in Turkmenistan, 732 km in Uzbekistan and 956 km in Kazakhstan.
He pointed out that equipping Sarakhs border station in Iran and Turkmenistan can facilitate transportation in this corridor.
Islamic Republic of Iran Railroads can transfer 7 million tons of goods by spending $60 million to equip Sarakhs station, he said. With the increase in Turkmenistan railroad facilities, the figure could reach 10 million tons, he added.
Iran-China Rail Corridor Soon
Speaking at the same gathering, deputy secretary general of ECO, Altaf Asghar, announced that feasibility studies on a new corridor between ECO member states have been conducted, adding that Iran-China railroad corridor will be lunched in the near future.
The remarks were made in a meeting among Asghar, Hormuzgan Governor General Ebrahim Azizi, Tajikistan's Ambassador in Tehran Dowlat-Ali Hatamov and a number of ECO's economic representatives in Bandar Abbas on Monday, Moj News Agency wrote.
Addressing the meeting, Asghar referred to a new railroad corridor connecting Iran to China via Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and said once launched, the corridor will entail major developments in economic and commercial interactions among ECO member states.
"Iran donated $1 million to ECO to conduct feasibility studies of the corridor," he said. "Once Tajikistan's Metra Company completes the studies, establishment and construction of the railroads will begin in cooperation with the five countries."
Pointing to Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul container train service, he said since the project was enthusiastically welcomed by ECO's private sectors, the services of the train increased from once a month to twice.
"With the inauguration of Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul railroad, the road corridor among the three countries has also been launched," Asghar added.
He announced an agreement has been reached among Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan to launch a financial transit mechanism for traders of the four countries.
"The mechanism will be officially operational within the next few months," Asghar said. He also invited Tajikistan to join the plan.
ECO International Conference on Logistics and Transit Development was held in Bandar Abbas, Hormuzgan province, on October 17.
© Iran Daily 2011
