IRAN TO MAXIMALLY ASSIST ARMENIA WITH CONSTRUCTION OF THE IRAN-ARMENIA RAILWAY
armradio.am
03.04.2009 16:44
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan today received the delegation headed
by the Minister of Roads and Communication of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, Hamid Bahbahan.
Greeting the guests, the Prime Minister noted that Armenia attaches
importance to the further development of friendly relations with
Iran, which have deep historic roots. According to him, the global
financial crisis is another opportunity to deepen and reinforce the
bilateral ties.
In this context, emphasizing the importance of the Armenian President’s
forthcoming official visit to Iran, the Prime Minister expressed
confidence that it will serve as a new impetus for the further
development of relations and will contribute to the more effective
implementation of programs in different spheres.
Minister Hamid Bahbahan also underlined that Armenia is an important
friendly state to Iran, the cooperation with which is one of the
priorities of his country’s foreign economic policy. Among the programs
in the field of transport the Minister pointed to the project of
construction of the Iran-Armenia railway. He noted that within the
framework of the visit he had a meeting with the Armenian Ministers
of Energy and Transport, as a result of which a corresponding working
group has already been set up.
According to Hamid Bahbahan, the works will be carrie d out in three
stages: the study of the technical-economic bases of the project,
confirmation of financial sources, determination of the most optimal
directions and the construction itself. He underlined that Iran is
going to maximally assist Armenia in all three stages of project
implementation. "The southern road of Armenia is more than reliable
today, and we will aspire to do our best to make the communication
between our countries maximally easier," the Minister stated.
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan also underlined that Armenia is
interested in the construction of the railway, the absence of which
does not allow utilizing the existing potential in full. According to
the Prime Minister, with the exploitation of the Iran-Armenia railway
the situation with the commodity turnover will immediately change,
many enterprises will start working. There are projects in the fields
of energy, agriculture and others, which will promote the development
of economic cooperation between the two countries.