The Port of Astara is a Turning Point in Government-Private Partnership

According to the Public Relations Department of Ports and Maritime Authority of Guilan Province, Massoud Pol Meh, during his visit to the Special Economic Zone of Astara Port, told reporters: “The foreign trade gateway of any country is considered the commercial ports of that country.”

He continued by saying that "ports" means a beating heart to inject blood into all the arteries that keep a country's economy alive: "Fortunately, today we are witnessing a growing partnership between the government and the private sector, and its objective appearance can be seen in the port of Astara.”

He pointed out that Kaveh Company will create up to five berths in the port of Astara in its development phases in the coming months and years. He added: “with the realization of this important issue, the loading and unloading capacity o will increase up to 2.5 million tons.”

Pol Meh, noting that the port of Astara has been able to allocate a larger share of port operations to the "export" of goods, noted: “The port of Astara supplies the products required by the CIS and Russia through container transport and the help of reefers.”

He added: "Over the past year, 150,000 tons of goods have been transported from this port and it is expected that it will increase to 200,000 tons by the end of the year."

In another part of his speech, the Secretary General of the Iranian Shipping Association emphasized that what happened in the port of Astara is a turning point in the cooperation between the government and the private sector, and added: " We expect this important issue to be considered as a successful example and the government to trust the private sector more than before in matters of tenure."

He added: "What we want in the implementation of Article 44 is the management and supervision of economic and executive processes in the field of economics, to grant more power to the private sector, which can improve the conditions in a more favorable way."

It is worth mentioning that the Secretary General of the Iranian Shipping Association and the accompanying delegation visited other economic infrastructures in the city, including the land customs and the Astara-Astara international rail dock.