'Azerbaijan’s participation in TRACECA is important'

The participation of Azerbaijan in the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) program is of strategic importance for the country to strengthen and expand economic relations with European countries, Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said in an interview with The Business Year journal.

"It is a great opportunity to put Azerbaijan on the map as one of the main transport hubs between East and West," Mammadov said.

According to Mammadov, Azerbaijan ahs already implemented several projects within the framework of the TRACECA program, such as transport management training and a legal and regulatory framework. The minister said that further projects have included the application of a tariff policy, the streamlining of procedures at border checkpoints, the restoration of railway lines, and other related technical assistance and investment-orientated initiatives.

"Our country is at a crossroads between North and South, and East and West, and the transport infrastructure projects that we are developing within the TRACECA program will increase the flow of cargo through the corridor," Mammadov said.

Talking about the investments that have been made in Azerbaijan's transport network in 2011 Mammadov said that last year 112.6 million manat was spent on railway development.

The minister stressed that 203.5 million tons of freight were transported, 22.1 million tons of cargo were carried by rail, 109.8 million tons were transported by road, and 1.5 billion passengers were transported.

During 2011, according to Mammadov, 1.6 billion manat was allocated for the maintenance of 668.7 kilometers of roads.

"As part of an action plan on the improvement of the transport system in Baku for the 2008-2013 period, we constructed 17 new road junctions and 75 pedestrian passageways, and repaired hundreds of kilometers of existing roads," the minister said.


/Trend/