TEHRAN - An assembly line to produce Iran's Samand sedan in the Azerbaijan Republic will come become operational on May 31, and a number of high-ranking officials from Iran and Azerbaijan are expected to attend the plant's opening ceremony, the Persian service of Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on Wednesday.
The project to build Iran's Samand in this Transcaucasian republic is projected to produce 6000 passenger cars per year initially, but the figure is expected to rise to 18,000 per annum within the next three year, noted Ali-Reza Mirzaii, an official at the major Iranian auto producer Iran Khodro Industrial Group (IKCO), said here on Wednesday.
Some $5 million of the $10-million project has so far been invested by Azerbaijan, he explained, adding that the Azeri side will pay for all project costs and Iran has undertaken to sell the factory equipment.
The Azeri car production plant, encompassing an area of about 50,000 square meters, is located in Shamash, 130 kilometers from Baku.
Based on earlier agreements, the assembly lines for production of the automobile will soon be opened in Belarus, he said, adding, that car exports to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan would be made possible through production at the Azerbaijan assembly line. He also explained that some of the Samand cars produced in Belarus would be exported to markets in Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Georgia.
© Tehran Times 2006
