The program aims at strengthen economic relations, trade, and transport in the regions of the Black Sea basin, South Caucasus and Central Asia.
At the conference, it was agreed to implement a program of a
European Union funded technical assistance to develop a transport corridor on a
west-east axis from Europe, across the Black Sea, through the Caucasus and the
Caspian Sea to Central Asia.
TRACECA members include Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova,
Romania, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
All are signatories to the multilateral agreement, and only Turkmenistan has
yet to ratify the agreement.
According to the portal of Iran’s Transport and Urban Development
Ministry, the country is eying expansion of TRACECA. The issue was brought up
during a meeting between Head of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation
Organization (RMTO) Dariush Amani and TRACECA Secretary General Asset
Assavbayev.
According to Amani, the meeting focused on the development
of international road transport cooperation with TRACECA member countries and
increasing the volume of transit through this corridor.
Amani noted that following the policies of the government,
RMTO is implementing new strategies to actively and effectively participate in
international forums, regional treaties and join international conventions on
transportation.
Various steps have been taken in this regard, including
joining the transport of perishable goods (ATP) and the International Carriage
of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) treaties, participating in the electronic
version of the International Carriage of Goods by Road (e-CMR) convention, as
well as the successful implementation of the project (E-TIR), the official
said.
Amani stated that there are great areas for cooperation
between the member states of the TRACECA agreement with the Islamic Republic of
Iran, and added, “We are therefore interested in making the best use of the
various projects and courses offered or held each year under the framework of
the said agreement at the secretariat or in other member states.”
The RMTO head has also called on the Assavbayev to take the
necessary measures to eliminate or reduce significant tariff barriers and
unconventional tolls imposed by some TRACECA member countries on the
international road fleet crossing those countries in order to realize the goals
envisioned for the corridor.
According to Amani, during the meeting Assavbayev stated
that the Islamic Republic of Iran is an active member of TRACECA and the main
link between Central Asia and Europe.
“The main purpose of these talks is to develop cooperation
and implement TRACECA programs through the Islamic Republic of Iran; In this
regard, the main concern is to reduce transportation costs and increase
cross-border traffic in order to optimize trade activities,” he said.
