BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 21. Azerbaijan and Bulgaria, which have favorable geographical location, can play a leading role in promoting international cargo transportation between Europe and Asia, Huseyn Huseynov, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Bulgaria, said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“Transport is another priority area of cooperation between the two countries after energy. Relations between our countries in this sphere have long history. Azerbaijan and Bulgaria were among founding states of Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia, TRACECA in 1998. In order to contribute to promotion of East-West, North-South and South-West international transport corridors, Azerbaijan is taking systemic and intensive measures to develop its transport infrastructure and has made great achievements in this sphere. Baku International Sea Trade Port, which was built using latest engineering innovations that meet the most modern standards, makes a great contribution to expansion of transit opportunities in the Caspian Sea region. In this regard, Baku International Sea Trade Port closed joint-stock company and Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company cooperate on boosting cargo transportation in both directions,” said the envoy.
Huseynov recalled that another important project, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was launched in 2018.
“Its important role in promoting connectivity between Europe and Asia was also mentioned by the European Union. BTK can facilitate cargo transportation from Turkey to Bulgaria and other European countries. Given that five of 10 European transportation corridors run through Bulgaria, cooperation with this country is of special importance. The latest global and regional tendencies have even more increased the significance of transport connectivity. In this regard, I would like to draw the attention to the Trans Caspian International Transport Route also known as the Middle Corridor, which is a part of the East-West international transport corridor. This route runs from the Pacific shores of China to Europe through the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan. Amid the current geopolitical situation, the importance of the Middle Corridor has even more increased and the volume of cargo transportation on this route is growing. The daily cargo transportation between EU and China reached $2 billion in 2021. In this regard, joint efforts of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria in promoting the transportation of part of these cargoes through the territories of our countries are mutually beneficial,” Huseynov added.