Iran to invest US$2 billion in maritime projects

Head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Ali-Akbar Safaei has said that investment in maritime projects across the country is going to be increased to one quadrillion rials (about US$2.01 billion) in order to realize maritime economy goals.

So far 189 trillion rials (about US$381.2 million) have been invested in various maritime projects across the country, Safaei said on Thursday in a televised interview with IRIB.

Mentioning the remarks of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei regarding the significance of the maritime economy, the official said the PMO has been named as the body in charge of realizing the country’s maritime economy goals.

In this regard, the parliament has also prepared the necessary legal basis in the maritime sector to increase the share of the sea economy in the country's economic growth, he said.

He pointed to the oil industry, marine food sector, and tourism as some major axes of the maritime economy, noting that in the offshore sector, the main issue is to form economic poles on the coastal regions.

Back in May, Safaei said that over US$800 million of maritime and port projects were underway in the country.

In November 2022, PMO announced that the organization has modified its investment charter in order to facilitate foreign investment in the country’s ports.

“Since economic diplomacy is a major policy of the 13th government, the charter of investment in ports has been facilitated with the aim of attracting foreign investors,” IRNA quoted PMO Deputy Head Jalil Eslami as saying.

Speaking in a gathering of PMO managers with oil and petrochemical industry representatives, Eslami said: “We live in a period when ports infrastructure development is very important and over the past few decades positive efforts have been made to increase the capacity of ports in the south and north of the country.”

According to the official, the capacity of the country’s ports is going to be increased to 280 million tons per annum in the near future.

Later in March this year, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash inaugurated 10 major maritime projects worth 42.951 trillion rials (about US$81.1 million) in southern Hormozgan province.

 

Iran adds 15 ships to its merchant fleet

Iran has added 15 ships to its trade maritime fleet in the Caspian Sea amid growing trade ties with Russia and other countries located to the north of Iran.

According to Mehr News Agency, the head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) has said that expanding Iran’s northern fleet of commercial vessels has become a priority for the country’s Transport and Urban Development Ministry, of which the PMO is a subsidiary.

“Given that the volume of trade with neighboring countries to the north is growing, the first priority for the ministry is to expand the fleet and to increase the capacity in the Caspian Sea,” Ali-Akbar Safaei said on Saturday.

Safaei said Iran’s Caspian Sea merchant fleet will further expand in the near future with the arrival of new ships from the Volga River.

The announcement comes amid growing shipping activity in the Caspian Sea as Russia and other countries have ramped up their exports and imports via Iran and its southern ports.

Media reports and statements by Iranian authorities show there has been a major surge in trade via the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a route that connects the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean to countries to the north of Iran via the Iranian road and rail transportation network.

Iran has created new infrastructure, including modern port operation systems, in its northern ports to both facilitate cargo transit via the INSTC and to increase its own exports to Russia and other countries.

Last month, Iran and Russia signed a contract to build a key railway along the Caspian Sea that would significantly boost trade via INSTC’s western branch.