Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 18 June, an official visit of the head of our state Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Tehran took place, during which he held talks with the President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi.

Following the meeting, the parties signed a joint statement on strengthening cooperation between the two countries. 15 documents were also adopted at the level of governments, departments and regions. Among them, an important place is occupied by a memorandum on cooperation in the field of transport and transit.

Iran, occupying a strategic position in the system of global trade routes, has a significant transit potential and logistics capabilities of interest to Uzbekistan.

A number of important international transport corridors pass through Iranian territory, such as: "Central Asia - the port of Bandar Abbas", "Central Asia - Iran-Turkey", South-Western corridor: Persian Gulf-Iran-Azerbaijan-Georgia (port of Poti) - Ukraine - Poland, Iran-Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania-Germany, etc. In addition, Tehran participates in three large projects - the International Transport Corridor (ITC) "North-South", the Ashgabat Agreement and the port of Chabahar.

The signing of a memorandum of cooperation in the field of transport and transit with Iran opens up additional opportunities for Uzbekistan to expand cooperation in the field of road and rail transport, improve transit routes between the two countries and, in general, contribute to the development of infrastructure in both countries.

In this context, it should be noted that today the development of the railway transportation system is one of the main priorities of the Iranian government. At present, the total length of railways in Iran is about 15,000 km. (main and side tracks), 3.3 thousand km are under construction. new railways and more than 6.3 thousand km. are in the design stage. In this year it is planned to complete the construction of 561 km. new railroads.

Iran’s highways account for about 80% of the total volume of passenger and freight traffic in the country. Transit on Iranian highways covered almost 76% of all shipments.

In the context of the existing capacities of the transport infrastructure of Iran and Uzbekistan and projects for its development, the interaction of the two countries in the transit and transport sector will have a multiplier effect for the whole of Central Asia.

It should be noted that in order to fully realize the entire potential of cooperation in the transport and transit sector, the parties have already reached an agreement on the development of a trilateral transport multimodal corridor Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran and agreed on issues on its operation.

Of no small importance in this regard is the conclusion of an agreement to reduce on a parity basis the fees levied by Iran from Uzbek companies transporting goods by road, and the alignment of tax fees on fuel with taxes from other countries. This is certainly aimed at reducing the cost of transport services and ensuring the competitiveness of goods.

In this context, the decision of the parties to establish an Iranian-Uzbek logistics center also deserves attention. Entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan will have the opportunity to directly participate in the construction of terminals and warehouses in the Iranian ports of Chabahar and Bandar Abbas.

All this will contribute to the intensification of business contacts and an increase in the flow of goods, not only between our countries, but will open a direct access for the states of Central Asia to the world markets.

During the talks in Tehran, an increase in the volume of rail traffic through Iran to third countries and an increase in the number of direct flights between the two countries were also discussed. All these advantages will help Uzbekistan to expand its export geography, reduce transport tariffs and facilitate trade and investment between the two countries.

The development of cooperation with the Islamic Republic will allow Tashkent to diversify and strengthen transit corridors and provide faster and more reliable access to international markets. In addition, cooperation in the field of transport will increase the volume of trade between the countries and expand the scope of economic relations.

Joint projects in the transport sector can contribute to strengthening regional security, as countries work together to combat cross-border crime, terrorism and drug trafficking.

In general, the agreements reached during the visit of the leader of Uzbekistan to Iran and the agreements reached on the development of cooperation, in particular in the transport and transit sector, enable both countries to receive benefits at many levels, strengthen regional ties and promote economic growth.

Alisher Kadyrov,

Head of the ISMI department under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.