Azerbaijan, Iran to boost transit cargo transportation

/By Azernews/

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan and Iran, the two neighboring countries, are taking real steps towards developing bilateral relations in the transit sector.

As part of the measures to broaden the longstanding trade ties, the customs services of the two countries have reached an agreement on expansion of cooperation for increasing transit cargo transportation through the territories of the two countries.

The agreement was reached between delegations representing the two countries' customs services during their meeting in the Julfa customs checkpoint on February 1, Azerbaijan's State Customs Service told Trend.

Azerbaijan was presented by Safar Mehdiyev, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Committee, and Asef Mammadov, the Chairman of the Nakhchivan Customs Committee, while Iran was presented by Alasgar Abbaszadeh, the Head of the Regional Customs Department of the East Azerbaijan Province, and Ahad Parahan, the Head of the International Relations Department of Iran's Customs Service.

They further discussed the issues of administrative assistance between the customs services of the two countries, as well as the development of projects envisaging online exchange of information on products and transport means.

Continuation of the works towards switching the customs checkpoints of Azerbaijan and Iran to the around-the-clock operation also was among the discussed issues.

Azerbaijan and Iran have created favorable conditions for increasing transit cargo transportation through the territories of the two countries and the cooperation between them in the customs field is developing constantly.

The two countries are located in very favorable strategic positions that create great opportunities for benefiting from the bilateral ties.

Iran, which is situated in the Middle East region, has land borders with the South Asian, Central Asian, and Middle East countries, with access to the Gulf and Indian Ocean.

Azerbaijan, in the cradle of the Caspian Sea is settled in between the West and East. The country plays a gateway role between not only the east and west, but also the north and south. The Land of Fire is positioned on one of the most important trade and transit routes to Europe.

In this regard, the transportation sector is one of the main areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran.

Tehran and Baku have recently intensified bilateral relations with an expectation to further deepen the all-out cooperation between the two close neighbors.

The nuclear deal and the lifting of international sanctions promise new opportunities for deepening economic cooperation between the two countries.