Iranian Vice-President Ali Aga Mohammadi is on a visit to Azerbaijan,
with his main goal to improve economic cooperation, the head of
economic affairs of the Iranian president’s office said, Trend
reports.
The Iranian delegation consists of people from various sectors of the
Iranian economy and will discuss development of industry, trade,
science, railroad transport, energy, healthcare, bank issues, customs,
air freight transport and free trade zones.
On the last visit to Azerbaijan, Iran said that work on constructing
the Kazvin-Resht-Astara railway will speed up. This railway is part of
the ‘North-South’ project. 7-8 km more track is needed to be
constructed on the territory of Azerbaijan.
‘North-South’ will establish a single railway from Europe through
Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran to India and South-East Asia. The project
is worth $400 million. Iran will do most of the work. Azerbaijan will
carry out construction worth $35-40 million.
The project requires construction of approximately 8,500 km of
railtrack from Astara in Azerbaijan. A border bridge is also needed.
At the first stage the railways will transport 5 million tons of cargo
annually, rising to 10-15 million tons.
Another issue is Iranian investment in the Azerbaijani economy,
including construction of power plants and pipelines. Realization of
the initiatives should increase trade turnover to $5 billion annually,
rising to $10 billion in the future, Mohammadi said.
