Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan seek to develop eastern route of North-South Corridor

Tehran, IRNA - The Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan announced that Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan signed the development roadmap of the eastern route of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for 2024-2025.

The implementation of this document will increase the operational capacity of the corridor to 15 million tons per year by 2027 and to 20 million tons by 2030.

The Kazakh minister of transport said that Kazakhstan plans to continue its active participation in the development of the eastern route of the North-South International Transport Corridor, which has the highest capacity for cargo flow growth until 2030.

He continued asserting that this corridor is the safest and shortest transportation route to the Indian Ocean.

"Therefore, it is necessary to start the road map signed today in the context of the simultaneous development of the potential of the eastern route of this corridor from the territory of Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran," he added.

The document was signed at the first Trade and Export Forum of the North-South International Transport Corridor in Aktau, Kazakhstan.

The North-South Corridor, which was the product of the will and determination of Russia, Iran and India in the year 2000 to create a cargo transportation corridor, witnessed the joining of a number of other countries to this transit route during the following years.

What motivated these countries to join this transit route was that the common routes for sending goods from India to St. Petersburg, Russia, which passes through the Suez Canal, is about 14,500 km long, but Iran's corridor in this route is only 7,200 kilometers, and the use of this capacity reduces 40% of transit time and 30% of transportation costs.