The 15th Verona Eurasian Economic Forum held last week in Baku, Azerbaijan, was focused on developing transport infrastructure and services in the Caspian region.
Speaking in the New Logistics and Transport Routes session, First Vice Premier of the Government of the Russian Federation Andrey Belousov noted that the North-South transport corridor is becoming increasingly important for Russia under the current conditions.
‘Due to the shift of economic activities centers to China, Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf, new logistics solutions are required,’ he said adding that that the North-South route reaching out to the Persian Gulf countries can actually compete with the Suez Channel.
The North-South corridor development depends greatly on the relations between Russia and Azerbaijan as well as on the relations with Iran, A.Belousov noted reminding that the road map developed for cargo transportation development by the North-South corridor envisages almost doubling of freight traffic by the route by 2030, from the current 17 mn tons up to 32 mn tons.
He added that during January-September 2022, international freight transportation between Russia and Azerbaijan axceeded 5.4 mn tons, up 57% year-on-year, while road traffic during H1 2022 tripled.