Tehran, IRNA – Member states of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) have emphasized promotion of ECO’s intra-regional and inter-regional connectivity and acceleration of implementation of long-term priorities of the Organization for development of transport and communication infrastructures.
The emphasis was made at the 11th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Transport held virtually on February 2 in Turkey while high-level expert group meetings were run from January 31 to February 1, according to the news reported on Wednesday by Ministry of Roads and Urban Development website.
Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Rostam Ghasemi in his speech at this meeting pointed to the necessity of improving economic development in the ECO region through infrastructural development, updating trade and transit procedures, and increasing traffic.
Ghasemi stressed accelerating implementation of the project for a common gateway known as ‘ECO Gate Project’ among ECO member states; the project which will help the landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) have better access to the high seas.
Iran has proposed the ECO Secretariat and Pakistan to attract investments from banks and international organizations to construct Quetta–Taftan Railway Line and equip the fleet.
Iran also has pointed to the importance of financing the projects along Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Iran (KTAI) Corridor and continuing the test run along road corridors of KTAI and ITI (Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad) under TIR Convention in order to identify and remove the barriers.
The development of efficient transport network in the ECO region is of high priority.
Among the seven main routes of transport corridors in the ECO region, Iran has the key role in the first five routes due to its crucial geographical and strategic location in the region.
Iran’s position has turned the country into a transit route as it plays an important role in the trade between West and East.
Transport along these ECO routes in Iran has recently witnessed important developments particularly along “Turkey-Iran-Pakistan” (ITI) and “Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran” (KTI) Corridors.
Operationalization of Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) corridor by dispatch of freight from Pakistan to Turkey through Iran in December 2021 is a major achievement in regional connectivity along ECO Corridor.
The ECO meeting acknowledged the activation of the ITI Corridor and emphasized removal of the impediments for regularization of this Corridor.
Moreover, the member states are to explore possibilities for extension of the Corridor to Europe and China.
ECO train as the most effective mode of transport for freight transfer can play an important role in expanding commercial transactions between the member states.
For implementation of Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran (KTI) railway freight corridor, a tripartite MoU between Railway Administrations of the Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan had recently been signed on the sidelines of ECO summit in Ashgabat in November 2021.
Due to the geopolitical privileges of Iran, this agreement on rail transport and transit will result in the increased rail transits through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Iran.
Further, it will expand operations through International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Further in the meeting, the member states emphasized on commercialization of the ITI, KTI, Istanbul-Almaty, and Bandar Abbas-Almaty Railway Corridor, and acknowledged their capacity to serve as key transit corridors in the region.
The member states committed to achieve the goals and objectives of the ECO in the field of transportation and communications and conferred digitalization of transport, customs, and border crossing procedures through implementing e-TIR/e-CMR protocols and other tools along transport corridors.
The member states of ECO transport corridor includes Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Source: Islamic Republic News Agency – IRNA
