4.4m tons of goods transited via Shahid Rajaei special economic zone in 9 months

TEHRAN- As announced by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), 4.4 million tons of goods were transited from the customs point of Shahid Rajaei Special Economic Zone during the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-December 21, 2024).

Shahid Rajaei Special Economic Zone is located in 23 km to the west of Bandar Abbas (the port city which is the center of Iran’s southern Hormozgan province) and is stretched to the north of Qeshm Island and Hormoz Strait. It has a marine relation with more than 80 internationally known ports and they exchange goods with each other.

Enjoying the most modern container terminals and port equipment, Shahid Rajaei port accounts for 85 percent of the total loading and unloading at the Iranian ports.

Given its significant role in the country’s import and export of products as well as transit and transshipment via Iran, the development of Shahid Rajaei Port has been among the most important development projects in the country.

As announced by the IRICA head, transit of commodities through Iran has increased by 31 percent during the first nine months of the current Iranian year.

Foroud Asgari said that 16.5 million tons of goods were transited via the country in the mentioned nine-month period.

The head of the International Affairs Center of the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development has recently announced the achievement of the record of 20 million tons of transit via Iran by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

Amin Taraffo’ also said: “To achieve the goals of the Seventh National Development Plan, which is transit of 40 million tons of commodities via the country per year, we must reach the transit of three million tons per month, which is now 1.5 million tons; of course, our capacity is estimated to be more than this figure.”

The continuous trend of recent transit records via the country and the increasing interest of governments, traders, and those active in transport sectors from neighboring, regional, and extra-regional countries in the transit and logistics situation of the Islamic Republic of Iran indicate the fruitfulness of the transformational approach of the government to the strategic issue of transit, with emphasis on the development of all-round economic relations with neighbors.

As stated by the former Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, the “Iran Way” initiative made by the current Iranian government, lets the neighboring countries use Iran as a route or a solution that facilitates their access to international waters.

Iran Way initiative is the gateway to Iran’s land of transit opportunities, the minister has underlined.

As previously announced by the Transport Ministry, 10.8 million tons of commodities were transited through the country in the Iranian calendar year 1401 (ended on March 20, 2023).

Iran is one of the countries with a special status in trade and transit relations due to its strategic location and special geography, as the country is the passage of several important international corridors.

Considering its geographical location, Iran can play a significant role in the transit of goods in the region and benefit a lot from its status in this due.

Paying attention to upstream documents, especially the country’s development plans, and the government’s decision to develop transit, paying special attention to infrastructure development, reducing transit time, making it cheaper to cross Iran, and making more advantages over competitors, due to the short path for customers, can lead to facilitating the development of transit so that the country can reach the desired growth in this due.

MA