Seyyed Rasoul Mohajer who has traveled to Uzbekistan to attend the International Conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities” delivered a speech on Friday at this conference.
Referring to the many cultural and civilizational commonalities in the region that have led to historical cohesion among nations, he said, "The requirements of the modern world require us to recreate this valuable heritage at all political, economic, commercial and cultural-human levels."
Highlighting intra-regional trade and the expansion of transportation and the development of transport infrastructure as elements of developing relations between the countries of the region, the Deputy Foreign Minister mentioned some advantages of the Islamic Republic of Iran in connecting the two regions of Central and South Asia.
Cooperation with landlocked countries and regional transit countries such as Pakistan and Turkey in the form of ECO transport corridors, strengthening multilateral regional transport and equip the ports of Chabahar and Bandar Abbas in the south and Amirabad and Caspian in the Caspian Sea, designing and implementing of national and transnational projects to connect rail to neighboring countries, including the Khaf-Herat project with a connection to Mazar-e-Sharif in the future, reviewing of cooperation arrangements between important ports such as Chabahar with other important ports of the Indian Ocean and ports of the southern Persian Gulf countries, pursuing the operation of the north-south corridors, TRACECA, Persian Gulf-Black Sea, as well as the Rasht-Astara-Azerbaijan railway and the Shalamcheh-Basra railway and reviewing of establishing a transport-trade corridor between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union to facilitate trade between the 5 countries of the Union and Iran within the framework of the agreement under negotiation of free trade are among the measures taken by Iran, he added.
The International Conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities" is underway at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent.
The forum is aimed at strengthening historically close and friendly ties, trust and good-neighborliness between Central and South Asia in the interests of all peoples and countries of both regions.
The conference is attended by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, foreign ministers and high representatives of the Central and South Asian countries, other foreign states, heads of authoritative international and regional organizations, global financial institutions and companies, and leading research and analytical centers.
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