Iran, Kazakhstan Sign Road Transportation Agreement

Two Caspian Sea littoral states, Iran and Kazakhstan, have signed an agreement on issuing permits for truckers commuting between the two countries, which is expected to boost bilateral cooperation in transportation and international commerce.

Reza Nafisi, Director General of Iran’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization’s Transit and International Transportation Office, said that according to the agreement, signed in Astana on October 27, a total of 1,000 transportation licenses will be issued for trucks to move between Iran and Kazakhstan over the next Iranian calendar year, which begins March 21, 2019.

“500 trucks will be used for bilateral transports, and another 500 for transit means,” Nafisi said according to Etala News, adding that 200 permits have been provided to the Iranian international transportation companies.

During the meeting, Kazakhstani officials expressed interest in discussing possibilities for launching a Ro-Ro cargo route, which stands for “roll-on, roll-off,” that would link the Aktau Port in Kazakhstan with one of Iran’s ports in either Amirabad or Bandar Anzali. Ro-Ro ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers and railroad cars, which are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle, such as a self-propelled modular transporter.

On October 19 an Iranian delegation, headed by the governor general of the Iranian northern province of Golestan, Manaf Hashemi, met the governor of Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region, Yeraly Tugzhanov, to hold talks on economic cooperation. Trade between Iran and Mangystau, which is Kazakhstan’s coastal region closest to Iran, amounted to $27.2 million in the first half of 2018. Mangystau supplies grains and cereals, tobacco products and building materials to Iran, while in turn, it receives vegetables, fruits, trees and sports equipment.

Trade between Iran and Kazakhstan exceeds $400 million per year, and officials are hoping to increase it to $2 billion.

In August, on the sidelines of the summit of Caspian Sea countries in Aktau, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev that the two countries can complement one another in areas such as transportation. Kazakhstan can reach the Indian Ocean thanks to Iran’s southern coastline, and Iran can reach China via Kazakhstan’s far eastern border.