UAE's Jebel Ali Free Zone Eyes Access to Central Asia via Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head of Jebel Ali Free Zone, a busy harbor run by the United Arab Emirates' Dubai government, expressed keenness for cooperation with Iran's southern free zones, including the port of Chabahar, as an easier access route to the Central Asian markets.
The Emirati official, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, held a meeting with top Iranian presidential aide Akbar Torkan on Saturday for talks on closer cooperation between the free trade zones of the two countries.
Referring to a new railroad linking Central Asia to the Persian Gulf, Torkan highlighted the good opportunities for the Emirati port to make its way in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries by establishing transit routes to Iran's southeastern port of Chabahar, which is also a free trade zone.
For his part, bin Sulayem hailed Chabahar's great importance in the transit of goods to the Central Asian region, voicing readiness to visit the Iranian free trade zone to forge cooperation.
The Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railroad was inaugurated in December 2014. The 920-km route, known as the railroad North-South Corridor, begins from the city of Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan and ends in the Iranian city of Gorgan in Golestan province.
Some 85 kilometers lie on the Islamic Republic of Iran's soil, 700 km in Turkmenistan and 120 km in Kazakhstan.
The railroad links the Central Asian countries to the Persian Gulf waters, facilitates cargo shipment in the region and shortens the North-South corridor some 600 kilometers.