Page 41 - IRANRptAug18

Azerbaijan and Iran are in final negotiations to launch the first railway to connect Tehran and Baku, Trend News Agency reported on June 25. Iranian Railways Company (RAI) spokesperson Mir Hassan Mousavi announced the new route after a meeting with Azerbaijani officials to discuss linking recently constructed lines. According to the initial plan, the railway will take the Baku-Astara-Tehran route.
Mousavi said: “The parties intend to address the issues that are necessary to accelerate the launch of the new route, especially the legal and customs issues.” He added: "The line will be put into operation after the launching of the Rasht-Astara railway line.”
This final piece of the railway puzzle will ultimately open up the vast market of Tehran – encompassing 12mn people in the metropolitan district – and eventually join railway lines laid east towards the second city of Mashhad and onwards to Turkmenistan.
Mousavi also noted that Iran and Azerbaijan were working to increase passenger flow on the Nakhchivan-Mashhad route, which is currently operating.
Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic and Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh signed air transport agreement between the two countries on June 21, reads the Serbian government’s statement . According to Mihajlovic, the agreement is going to be a framework for direct flights and other traffic between Serbia and Iran; direct flights were recently re-launched after a 27-year hiatus when IranAir resumed flights from Tehran to the Serbian capital Belgrade in March.
The new flight connection came as part of an overall warming of ties between Tehran and Belgrade. The Serbian authorities have lately removed visa restrictions on Iranians visiting their country. Only a few European countries have made such a move to date.
The agreement on air transportation between Serbia and Iran was signed within the 15th session of the Mixed Trade Commission of the two countries, which is underway in Belgrade.
9.1.4 TMT sector news
Mahmoud Vaezi, chief of staff to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, met with Azerbaijan’s Minister of Transport, Communications and Technology, Ramin Guluzade, and discussed achieving more substantial bilateral ties in technology, Mehr News Agency reported on July 29. Vaezi reportedly stressed the importance of the development of economic cooperation between Tehran and Baku, especially in the fields of communication and new technologies, saying “Iran, thanks to its pertinent fields of software and hardware, is ready to transfer experience to Azerbaijan in the field of communications technology”.
Guluzade responded that developing the telecommunications tie-up between the two states would be helpful. He noted that fields including transportation, e-commerce, and customs were among Baku’s top priorities.
Earlier this week, Iranian and Azerbaijani border officials agreed to further strengthen their respective border infrastructure along the Astarachay River by building a wall. Smuggling efforts and landslides have heightened concerns.
Iranian importers of phones worth less than $300 are to receive the
41 IRAN Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com