The authorities of Dagestan intend to establish ties with the countries of the Caspian basin to develop the North-South Transport Corridor. In the near future a delegation from the region plans to visit Iran and Azerbaijan, head of the region Sergey Melikov told TASS during the Eastern Economic Forum.
"Today we consider all countries of the Caspian basin as partners. Here we work consistently to understand this interest <...> with those who are closer to us within the development of the transport and logistics corridor. And later on - with other states," Melikov said.
According to him, the region has established "good neighborly relations" with Azerbaijan, and today the intergovernmental commission established between the countries considers, among other things, issues of improving the quality of checkpoints to expand the capacity of the transport and logistics corridor.
"We are planning a trip to Azerbaijan. The president of Azerbaijan has already repeatedly proposed to consider a visit of our delegation to Azerbaijan. This should be done, firstly, to emphasize our good relations with our southern neighbor and partner. Secondly, to transfer those relations to the phase of further development," Melikov added.
A delegation from Dagestan, according to him, also intends to visit Iran in October, where an exchange of experience in maritime transportation is planned.
"Today we are waiting for the Russian government's decision to include our port in [the plan] of privatization. Therefore, it would be interesting for us, including our partner, who acts as an investor, to see how the maritime transport logistics is arranged in Iran. We will have to communicate with them closely in this regard, so that we have common views. For example we need to understand the volumes of transportation and the vessels that can be involved in these shipments," said the head of the region.
North-South corridor
The intergovernmental agreement on creating the North-South Multimodal Transport Corridor was signed by Russia, India and Iran in 2000, several more states joined it later. Moscow ratified the document in 2002. The aim of the project is to provide cargo transit from India, Iran and the Persian Gulf countries through Russian territory to Europe. Compared to the sea route through the Suez Canal, the distance is reduced by more than half, which decreases the time and cost of transportation.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Шамиль Магомедов/Creative Commons 2.0
Based on materials from TASS