Azerbaijan reports growth in transit cargo shipment along East-West, North-South corridors

Azerbaijan’s Prime Minister Ali Asadov has said that cargo transportation through the territory of Azerbaijan along the East-West and North-South corridors had increased annually. 

So, for the first eight months of this year, transit cargo transportation through our country along the East-West corridor increased by 20 per cent, and along the North-South route - by 33 per cent, Asadov said at the second Caspian Economic Forum in Moscow, Report informs citing Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers. 

The prime minister called the Baku International Sea Trade Port a key link in these corridors, through which an annual increase in the volume of transit cargo is observed.

Asadov said that the growing importance of the Caspian region as part of international transport corridors also implies the optimisation of the role of seaports.

“In this regard, work is underway to increase the transshipment capacity of the Baku port from 15 to 25 million tonnes of cargo per year,” he added.

Speaking about international transportation across the Caspian Sea, Asadov focused on the problem of shallowing, and noted that the Caspian states need to take urgent measures to carry out permanent work to deepen the seabed for the full-fledged transportation of goods.

The prime minister also assessed the first trilateral meeting between Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran held on September 9 in Baku as an important step for the development of the international North-South transport corridor.

As a result of the meeting, the Baku Declaration was signed, in which the parties expressed their readiness for cooperation and assessment of opportunities to increase the level of transit through the North-South corridor to 15 million tonnes per year by 2030, he said.

Asadov informed the forum participants about the capabilities of the civil cargo fleet of Azerbaijan, as well as the Baku Shipbuilding Plant, it was brought to the attention that all the Caspian states can use its capabilities.

He noted Azerbaijan's significant contribution to the efficient use of the Trans-Caspian international transport route.

The new realities that have developed after the liberation of the territories of Azerbaijan from Armenian occupation make it possible to expand the possibilities of transport routes in the region, Asado noted.

“Today we are actively working on the development of regional transport and communication projects. In this sense, the opening of the Zangazur corridor is of great importance.”