President: Azerbaijan plans to increase transit cargo traffic to 25 million tons

Azerbaijan plans to increase the volume of transit cargo transportation through its territory to 25 million tons, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the 2nd Azerbaijan International Investment Forum, Report informs.

"Today we see growing demand for cargo transportation through Azerbaijan, whether along the East-West or North-South route. We are located at the intersection of these two important routes. By the way, we are one of the few countries actively participating in both transport corridors. This year, the volume of transit cargo through Azerbaijan will reach 16 million tons, but our goal is to increase this figure to 25 million tons by 2030. Possibly even higher, along both the East-West and North-South routes," Ilham Aliyev said.

According to him, Azerbaijan is actively cooperating with neighboring countries and Central Asian states to achieve this goal. He noted that since November last year, Azerbaijan has been a full member of the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia.

"This is truly an unprecedented event, because geographically we are located in the Caucasus, but from a political, economic and transport perspective, we are already part of the broader Central Asian region," the president said.

Aliyev emphasized that the digitalization of the transport system and customs administration, as well as clear and understandable rules and regulations for investors in the transportation sector in Azerbaijan, strengthen the country's potential.

"Even if the geopolitical situation in our region changes and returns to what it was five years ago, we still need to remain attractive to suppliers," he noted.