TEHRAN – Iran and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Monday for the expansion of railway cooperation, IRIB reported.
The MOU was signed by the Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) Saeed Rasouli and the Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways Closed Joint-Stock Company Javid Gurbanov.
Based on this MOU, the two sides agreed to expand their railway cooperation to reach a transit ceiling of two million tons per year and to facilitate railroad developments.
The volume of cargo transit between the two countries increased to 480,000 tons in 2020 despite the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The 14th meeting of the Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Committee was held on Monday at the place of the Iranian Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs in Tehran, during which the two sides also inked an MOU for the expansion of economic cooperation.
The MOU was signed by Iran’s Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Farhad Dejpasand and Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, who co-chaired the meeting.
Back in September 2020, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami and Azerbaijani Minister of Transport, Communications, and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade, discussed railway relations and cooperation between the two countries during a meeting via video conference.
Referring to the support and emphasis of the two countries’ presidents on the need for developing transportation and transit cooperation, the officials expressed hope that by completing joint projects, the two neighbors would expand their relations in the mentioned field.
The construction of a joint bridge on the Astarachai River in Astara, the completion of the Astara-Astara railway terminal given its capacity and role in goods transportation between the two countries, and the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway are also among the projects that the two sides are hoping to complete in the coming years.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/457103/Tehran-Baku-ink-MOU-for-expanding-railway-cooperation
