TEHRAN- Small ports can play some key and essential role in the country’s current economic condition, the ports affairs director of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Ravanbakhsh Behzadian asserted.

The official also said that developing these ports can prevent from immigration of their population to the big cities through job creation, IRIB reported on Saturday.

Transferring the operating of small ports to the private sector has been and will be always possible and it has been already transferred to the private sector in some ports, the PMO director stated, adding that such transferring is possible provided that the ports will bring profit.

In late April, PMO Head Mohammad Rastad announced that Iran’s maritime fleet has been placed on white list of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), thanks to the set of measures the country has taken to preserve and enhance maritime safety.

The official said that the measures taken by the PMO to maintain and enhance maritime safety have led Iran to stand among the world’s top countries in terms of standard and fleet safety.

“The issue of safety at sea is very important, and if ships lack the necessary standards for maritime safety, they naturally endanger the lives of people”, Rastad noted.

MA/MA