TEHRAN - Iran and Russia are going to invest about $38 billion in the development of Trans Caspian shipping lines as part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), Iran’s Maritime News Agency (MANA) reported.

Addressing an international conference dubbed “The North-South Corridor; a New Concept” in the Russian city of Astrakhan on Friday, the Iranian director of the Russian Port of Solyanka, Dariush Jamali, branded the corridor as “a key element of the Eurasian transport network”.

In this conference, which was attended by the governor-general of Russia’s Astrakhan, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, manager of Afghanistan Railway Company, and head of Iraq Railway Company, Jamali pointed to the three western, eastern and maritime or trans-Caspian routes of the INSTC and noted that Iran and Russia have considered investing about $38 billion for the development of the corridor, of which the shares of Russia and Iran will be 35 percent and 34 percent, respectively.

He further highlighted the measures taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) to develop the INSTC route, including purchasing 30 rail wagons, and 5,400 containers, as well as, buying and ordering the construction of 21 equipped vessels for strengthening the maritime routes.

The investment of the IRISL Group at Russia’s Solyanka Port to increase the capacity of the port and its infrastructure and purchase ships is among the most important measures taken by the group, he added.

Since 2002, Iran, Russia, and India have worked intermittently on a new transportation system by rail, road, and sea (running 4,500 miles through at least six Eurasian countries and benefitting seven others) that could be a game-changer for global trade.

The goal of the multilateral project is to cut travel costs by up to a third and shipping time by nearly a half. It could eventually provide major commercial links between Asia and Europe.

EF/MA