TEHRAN- Through construction of new warehouses and also renovating the existing ones, warehouse capacity and standards are planned to be elevated in Iran’s southeastern port of Chabahar, according to the head of Ports and Maritime Department of Sistan-Baluchestan Province, where the port lies.

Behrouz Aqaei said that given the programs of the country for the imports of basic commodities the capacity of the warehouses in this port should be increased, the website of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) published.

The official put the cost of the project for renovating three multi-purpose warehouses of the ports at 540 billion rials (about $12.8 million) to be provided through internal sources of PMO, saying that the project is under the tender, the contractor will be selected by the next month and renovation operation will begin.

He also announced that two multi-purpose warehouses are under construction in the port through private sector’s investment and under build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts.

Last week, the chairman of the board of Chabahar Free Trade–Industrial Zone Organization said his organization is in talks with foreign investors for financing the project for the construction of an international airport in the port city.

According to Abdolrahim Kordi, Chabahar Free Trade–Industrial Zone Organization is going to invest 5.5 trillion rials (about $131 million) supplied by domestic sources in the first phase of the mentioned project which is expected to be completed within two years, Tasnim news agency reported.

Located in southeastern Iran, Chabahar Port is the country’s only oceanic port.

Although Iran has awarded the development project of this port to India and the South Asian country committed $500 million to build two new berths in this port, several foreign countries are eager to contribute to the development of this strategic port.

Back in December 2019, the head of Ports and Maritime Department of Sistan-Baluchestan Province said that 17 countries had expressed willingness for contribution to the development of Chabahar Port.

MA/MA