Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran sign Baku Declaration on International North-South Transport Corridor

The Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Shahin Mustafayev, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Alexander Novak, and the Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran, Rustam Ghasemi, signed the Baku Declaration on the results of the first tripartite meeting held in Baku between the officials of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran on the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor, Report informs.

According to the declaration, the parties express their willingness to cooperate in the assessment and analysis of infrastructure and transport opportunities to fully exploit the potential of the corridor and take into account the proposed goals of 30 million tons of transit and two-way cargo between the territories of the 3 countries by 2030.

The parties stressed the importance of creating a Joint Working Group to deal with the issues of facilitating transport and transit operations and procedures through their territories in the context of the development of the corridor and expressed the intention to hold the first meeting within a month. In addition, the parties state that they intend to prepare a draft agreement on the Rasht-Astara railway project within a month and start negotiations by the end of 2022.

Moreover, the parties are trying to unblock all regional economic and transport links by creating new transport communications. In the declaration, the integration of Iran's Chabahar port into the corridor is welcomed.