TEHRAN, Iran, May. 25
Trend:
Director General of Ports and Maritime Affairs of Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran has explained the latest status of the joint Iran-India commercial contract on the Chabahar Port.
"At present, no agreement has been signed with the Indian side,” said Behrouz Aghaie, Trend reports citing Tasnim News Agency.
He added that the there is only a memorandum of understanding signed between Iran, India and Afghanistan on the Chabahar Port, which was approved by the parliaments of three countries.
"The signing and implementation of the contract is dependent on the provision of equipment by the Indian side,” he said. “Of course, we have a temporary contract for the port operator with Indians, but the main contract is subject to the provision of equipment."
"Fortunately, India has held tenders for the supply of equipment to equip the Chabahar port, so the matter is moving forward," he said.
Referring to the growth of loading and unloading operations of basic goods at the Chabahar port, he said that considering the government's emphasis on transferring a major part of the country's basic goods through the port, the unloading of goods there has grown by 177 percent in the previous Iranian Year.
Pointing to the importance of traffic on the port's transportation routes, he added that the increase in traffic shows the port is becoming more competitive.
“The higher the traffic, the more effective it is in reducing the cost of transporting exported, imported and transit goods, making the port competitive,” said Aghaie.
