TEHRAN (TCA) — Oman’s top port Salalah has signed a basic agreement with two key Iranian southern trade terminals in what is expected to make the Persian Gulf state Iran’s new biggest trade partner in the region, with potential to increase trade with Central Asian countries via Iran, Iran’s PressTV reported on March 8.
The agreement has been signed with Shahid Rajaee port, Iran’s biggest cargo port near Bandar Abbas located at the Strait of Hormuz, and with Chabahar port which is located on the coast of the Gulf of Oman.
The port of Salalah will provide advice on infrastructure development and the modernization of the two Iranian ports as well as workforce training.
Officials in Oman say the move would “facilitate growth in shipping, trade and commerce” between the two countries.
“This agreement provides an opportunity for the three ports to complement and significantly enhance each other’s value proposition by providing the industries in their hinterlands gateways for wider markets by leveraging on the location of the partner ports,” David Gledhill, chief executive officer of the Port of Salalah, was quoted by the media as saying.
“We also envisage the landlocked countries adjacent to Iran to use the existing multilateral agreements for transport corridors to access new markets.”
Shahid Rajaee port is located 23 kilometers west of Bandar Abbas, the capital city of southern Iranian province of Hormozgan. The port is the biggest and most modern container port in Iran.
Chabahar Port is being promoted as an alternate gateway for access to Afghanistan and landlocked Kazakhstan and Armenia.
In February, Iran and Oman officially launched a separate shipping route between Shahid Rajaee port and the Omani port of Sohar in what officials say would help promote trade not only between Iran and Oman but also across the region.
Iran President Hassan Rouhani told reporters during a visit to Ashgabat in early March that Iran and Turkmenistan are determined to activate a “south-to-north economic corridor” that starts with Oman, passes through Iran and leads to Uzbekistan through Turkmenistan.
