In the course of his visit to Moscow, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhundi met and talked with Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Maksim Sokolov.
The two sides at the joint session exchanges views on issues of interest and sought venues to boost bilateral cooperation.
Iran’s Akhundi, while voicing satisfaction towards Tehran-Moscow relations in the area of transportation especially use of infrastructure capacities, called for activation of the north-south corridor.
He pointed to significance of establishing logistic facilities in the country given the abundance of infrastructure capacities and suggested that a conference be held with participation of private sectors from Iran, India and Russia.
The official also assessed cooperation of the two countries in the field of railway industry as positive and growing.
Iran’s roads minister later urged the Russian side to take necessary measures to facilitate issuance of permits for shipping, transit of Iranian ships to the port of Astrakhan and customs formalities.
Also at the meeting, the Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov highlighted importance of INSTC, particularly in view of the growing flow of goods exchanges between Russia and India. He also welcomed the Iranian side’s proposal to hold a conference on the corridor.
The official later described construction of Rasht-Astara railway as a crucial step in activating the north-south corridor noting that Moscow would welcome any initiative in the sector.
Sokolov said his country possessed valuable experience in creating logistic centers and voiced readiness to establish such centers in Iran.
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