TEHRAN – Abdolrahim Kordi, the managing director of Chabahar Free TradeZone, was quoted by Iran’s media as saying that Beijing had informed Tehranthat it was interested in using Chabahr to transit goods from Gwadar toregional and extra-regional destination points.
Kordi emphasized that there was no competition between Iran’s Chabahar andPakistan’s Gawadr, stressing that the two could complement each other interms of market access potentials.
Nevertheless, the official emphasized that the advantages of Chabahar werebetter than Gwadar in terms of road and rail connection facilities to keytransportation points in regions as far as Central Asia and Europe.
Iran started an ambitious project to develop Chabahar port in 2007 throughan investment that officials previously said already amounted to $1 billion.
The annual cargo tonnage of the port has now almost tripled to reach ashigh as 8.5 million tons.
It can also accommodate 100,000-ton ships – what officials say can helppromote the country’s international trade activities.
The overall development project is planned in four phases and is expectedto bring the port’s total annual cargo capacity to 82 million ton.
The development of Chabahr port is being carried out by India. The countryhas committed $500 million to Chabahar which lies on the Gulf of Oman,aiming to join an increasingly important transport corridor toresource-rich regional countries.
Massive investment plans are already on the cards, with the government ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi offering to build a sprawling artery of roadsand railways which is estimated to cost $15 billion.
When development is complete, Chabahar will link with the InternationalNorth-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) which is currently stretchesfrom the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf to Russia,Eurasia and Europe.