TABNAK, Sep, 16: Hemmati in a meeting with Russian President's Adviser Igor Levitin called for quick implementation of North-South Corridor as a transit path to boost cooperation among the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia, India and other Persian Gulf countries.
“We expect Russia to seriously support the mega-project of North-South corridor,” he noted.
“The government of Islamic Republic of Iran backs investment of other countries on the project and it is ready to facilitate participation of other countries in the project through presenting certain investment incentives,” he said.
Igor Levitin, for his part, said the project has been started and is being financed by Russia VTB Bank.
He noted that the technical phase of the first section of the corridor has been completed.
Since 2002, Iran, Russia, and India have worked intermittently on a new transportation system by rail, road, and sea (running 4,500 miles through at least six Eurasian countries and benefitting seven others) that could be a game-changer for global trade.
The goal of the multilateral project is to cut travel costs by up to a third and shipping time by nearly a half. It could eventually provide major commercial links between Asia and Europe.
Iranian and Russian officials have previously stressed that the corridor passing through Iran can be a safe alternative to the Suez Canal.
The North-South Corridor is a combined rail-sea-road transit route of 7,200 kilometers that reaches Europe by passing through India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Central Asia.
It should be mentioned that Iran and Russia reached an agreement in 2022 for reviving the idle section of the International North-South Transport Corridor in Iran for expanding transit ties.
