Iran, Switzerland Sign Deal to Jointly Develop Inland Port
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Perse Transport Bar and Switzerland’s TransInvest Holding signed a deal to jointly develop a dry port in the vicinity of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Called Aprin Dry Port, the facility will connect Iran’s port cities to the capital and will act as the country’s central cargo train intersection.
“We are trying to turn the port into special economic zone which will be of great impact considering the nearness of the North-South Corridor railway,” Mohsen Pour-Seyed Aqaei, the managing director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR), told Azerbaijan’s Trend news agency following the signing ceremony on Sunday.
The 25-year contract is reportedly expected to receive an investment of $30 million for its first phase, which will take 2.5 years to become operational.
Aprin Dry Port will be staged 20 kilometers to the southeast of Tehran in an area of 700 hectares.
Trains will be able to load containers directly from ships at Persian Gulf ports and carry them to Aprin. Clearance procedures will be undertaken at Aprin. The contractor has guaranteed a minimum load traffic of 400,000 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) through the port.
