Page 39 - IRANRptMar19

brands have undergone price jumps of around 100% for both new and used vehicles. Making the situation worse, many parts makers that supply companies like Iran’s number one and number two automakers—Iran Khodro (IKCO) and SAIPA, respectively—have collapsed due to producers failing to debts from months back.
9.1.3 Transport sector news
A second Indian container ship has reportedly docked at Iran’s sole oceanic port of Chabahar, under development as a trade hub in a deal between Tehran and New Delhi that enjoys protection from US sanctions.
Iranian media reported the arrival on February 12.
India and Iran have created a shipping line to help develop the Gulf of Oman port’s processing of imports and exports. Indian goods are to reach as far as Europe after moving along the 7,200-kilometre multimodal International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) which, like the port, is under development.
Behrouz Aghaei, a director general of the Ports and Maritime Organisation (PMO) of Sistan and Baluchistan province, made the announcement that the “Inter Sydney” was the second Indian ship to enter Chabahar.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines has arranged for the ship to sail once every two weeks to the port of Chabahar. Now, the direct export, import and transit of goods from the port of Chabahar has been made possible," the official said.
He added that the PMO was making sure that the ship would be unloaded as a matter of priority for the port.
The first ship arrived on January 27. It carried grain from India for the Iranian market.
The INSTC is to connect India to northern Europe via a corridor running through Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia with direct Indian Ocean sea routes between western India and Chabahar forming the first stage of transit. Rail routes running from Iran and through Azerbaijan to Moscow are also to be core features of the INSTC.
Crucially, last November, the US State Department exempted the port project in Chabahar from sanctions in recognition of its importance to landlocked Afghanistan’s growth and development as well as to India’s need to bypass Pakistan to trade with both Afghanistan and Central Asia. In potential trade terms, the project is also seen as very important by Iran’s remote neighbour Turkmenistan.
Chabahar, designated a free trade zone, is seen as India’s direct response to China and Pakistan’s joint investment in the Pakistani Arabian Sea port of Gwadar, located just 80km from the Iranian port. Gwadar is a key element of a corridor linking Pakistan, Afghanistan and China under the huge multi-continental Belt and Road infrastructure project.
Iran has become able to buy planes via “a special financial channel” and “very good ones” too, Iranian Minister for Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami was reported as saying by Mehr News Agency on February 13.
Offering scant detail, Eslami said flagship carrier IranAir developed the channel and was in the process of acquiring “new” aircraft.
Together, IranAir and other Iranian airlines have in the past year seen orders
39 IRAN Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com