On October 19, 2024, the Secretary General paid an official visit to Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran
This visit included the key meetings of Mr. A. Assavbayev with the executives and leading representatives of the transport sector of Iran
- H.E. Ms. Farzaneh Sadegh, Minister of Roads and Urban Development,
- Mr. Dariush Amani, Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Head of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization,
- Mr. Jabbar Ali Zakeri Sardroudi, Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, President of the Iranian Railways,
- Mr. Alavi Sabzevari, Director General of the Multilateral and International Economic Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
- as well as Mr. Amin Taraffo, the TRACECA National Secretary in Iran.
One of the priorities during the visit was the exchange of views between Mr. A. Assavbayev and Ms. Farzaneh Sadegh Malvajerd, Minister of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on transferring the Chairmanship of the IGC from Georgia to Iran and the holding of the next Seventeenth Annual IGC Meeting in Iran.
Another important aspect was the discussion of the status of Iran's participation in current TRACECA projects and initiatives.
It was noted that in the first half of 2024, transit traffic through Iran increased by 61% compared to the same period last year. The Secretary General noted the importance of joint coordination of work with the Islamic Republic of Iran on the transportation of goods, in particular by road in transit through Iran.
At the same time, projects for the development of railways and their connection to ports, work carried out to improve and modernize the infrastructure of roads and border crossing points were discussed in detail.
During the dialogue with representatives of the Iranian Railways, special attention was paid to the issue of flexible tariffs for rail transport, the attraction of container transport, the development of combined transport services in the TRACECA region and digitalization.
During the meeting, the Secretary General stressed the importance of raising awareness of the TRACECA countries about Iran's transit capabilities and, in this regard, proposed jointly developing a guide for the transportation of goods in transit through Iran, covering issues such as visa procedures, border crossing, payment of fuel charges, necessary documents for transportation, as well as a list of goods covered by sanctions.
Mr. A.A. Assavbayev noted: "... the availability of such a guide will simplify the search for necessary information for carriers and will have a positive impact on increasing the volume of cargo transportation in the future. With the support of the Iranian Party, we are ready, together with Mr. Taraffo, National Secretary to work out the content of this document and share it with the national associations of carriers of the TRACECA countries."
Moreover, the importance of unifying requirements with international standards and the significant work carried out by Iran to join international conventions regulating the transportation of dangerous goods and perishable goods was mentioned.
A particular attention was paid to negotiations on the expectations of the Iranian Party from the PS IGC TRACECA activities. In his turn, the Secretary General assured the Minister that "the Permanent Secretariat will make efforts to maximize Iran's fruitful participation in TRACECA for the benefit of the development of Europe-the Caucasus-Asia region as a whole."
For reference:
- TRACECA is an internationally recognized programme uniting the transport system of 14 countries of the Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport for Development of the Europe-the Caucasus-Asia corridor (MLA), which are aimed at developing economic relations, trade and transport links in the regions of Europe, the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and Asia.
- The Islamic Republic of Iran is the MLA member-country, actively participating in the implementation of projects and initiatives of the PS IGC TRACECA.
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Permanent Secretaritat of the IGC TRACECA