Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development Rostam Qassemi says that railway transit can bring about billions of dollars of revenues for Iran and Turkmenistan.
Qassemi made the remarks during a meeting in Tehran with Turkmenistan’s Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Serdar Berdimuhamedow.
He said that a joint team of experts from Iran and Turkmenistan are considering the removal of hurdles on the way of railroad transportation between the two countries so as to pave the way for a daily exchange of 400 to 500 wagons at the joint borders.
The minister referred to Turkmenistan’s transit to India and other southern countries and said that it can have major economic revenues both for Iran and Turkmenistan.
“Russia exports an annual 20-25 million tons of coal to India through the Black Sea, Red Sea and Suez Channel which takes more than three months and is costly as well,” Qassemi said.
He noted that if Russia joins the Iranian railway and gains access to Chabahar Port, it can transit commodities to India which is not only very economically justifiable for both Russia and India but will also cut the transit time to 20 days.
The Turkmen side, said for his part that the volume of trade between Iran and Turkmenistan grew by 84% in 2021.