During his visit to Imam Khomeini Port's special economic zone, Ali Akbar Safaei referred to the actions and achievements in the investment, marine and technical fields in the ports and maritime department of Khuzestan province and said: 840 ships have docked in the area since the beginning of this year, remarkable in terms of safety and accident-free status.

As announced by a provincial official, the loading and unloading of goods in Imam Khomeini port increased by 10.5 percent during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-September 21), as compared to the first half of the past year.

Aboutaleb Geraylou, the head of Khuzestan’s Ports and Maritime Department, said that 24 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded at this port during the mentioned six-month period.

Of the mentioned figure, 13 million tons was the amount of non-oil goods and 11 million tons was the oil products.

While Iran is combating the U.S. unilateral sanctions on its economy, the country’s ports as the major gates of exports and imports play a significant role in this battle. This role makes all-out support for ports and their development serious and vital.

Such necessity has led the government to define projects for more development of the ports and also take some measures to encourage investment making in ports, in addition to facilitating the loading and unloading of goods, especially basic commodities, there.

It is worth mentioning that Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization has defined a high number of projects to develop and improve the country’s ports, as the country aims to double the capacity of its ports in five years.

MA