Sadeq Najafi said that the major part of transited foreign goods through AFTZ during that period were machinery and mechanical appliances, land transportation vehicles and truck spare parts, helicopters, glassware, glue, cheese starter, tea and turmeric, various types of dried nuts, electrical appliance, clothes, tires, and various types of plastic products.
The AFTZ managing director said that these goods were transited to Turkey, Taiwan, Pakistan, Georgia, The UAE, Armenia, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Afghanistan.
Aras Free Trade - Industrial Zone (AFTZ) is situated in East Azarbaijan province, in northwest Iran, adjacent to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Aras Free Zone measures 97 km². It is located 137 km from Tabriz, one of the major academic and industrial hubs of Iran, and 761 km from the capital city Tehran. Jolfa, the center of the Zone, has a century old background in international commercial and customs activities.
This zone was established by the decree of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on 24 August 2003 in order to accelerate the economic development of this region.
Existence of the greenhouse town in the AFTZ, which has been built upon cooperation of Agricultural Jihad Ministry, has paved the ground for investment in the field of planting hydroponic products.
A 500-megawatt combined cycle power plant project is currently underway in AFTZ as a joint investment venture with foreign parties.