President Aliyev: Azerbaijan plays important role in North-South corridor’s development

Azerbaijan plays an important role in the development of the North-South transportation corridor, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the SCO plus meeting in Astana, News.Az reports.

“Railroad and highway infrastructure of Azerbaijani segment of the North-South corridor is ready and functioning successfully. Currently, we are working to expand it to the volumes of railway cargo of 15 and later, when needed, 30 million tons, annually,” the head of state noted.

He stated that connectivity along East-West and North-South transportation corridors constitutes an important area of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the SCO Member States. President Aliyev stressed that the geographical location and substantial investments in transport infrastructure have enabled Azerbaijan to become one of the transport and logistics hubs in Eurasia.

“The annual handling capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway – an integral part of the Middle Corridor – has increased from 1 million tons to 5 million tons thanks to the Azerbaijani investments. We are working with partner countries to ensure digitalization of the Middle Corridor. Furthermore, Azerbaijan aims to increase the annual capacity of the Alat International Sea Trade Port from 15 million tons to 25 million tons,” he added.

The head of state also said Azerbaijan will continue its work with the SCO on preparation for COP29.

“We will spare no effort in building bridges between developed and developing countries at the COP29 in Baku, and strive towards reaching an accord that would take into account the legitimate interests of the developing nations,” he said.

“Azerbaijan’s priorities also include the support to the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) facing existential threat due to adverse effects of climate change. Azerbaijan has initiated the establishment of a special technical assistance fund to support the SIDS,” the head of state mentioned.

“We will continue our work with the SCO on the preparation for the COP29 – the world’s largest international conference,” President Aliyev added.

News.Az