The European Commission has allocated one million euros as part of technical assistance for the further development of the Baku International Sea Trade Port, Henrik Hololei, the European Commission’s director general for mobility and transport, told reporters in Baku Jan. 30.
Hololei visited the Baku International Sea Trade Port in Alyat settlement, where he met with head of the port Taleh Ziyadov.
Hololei said that first of all, he thinks that Azerbaijani people can be proud of the development in their country. He expressed support for the concept started by Azerbaijan to become a regional transit and logistics hub.
In order to create a successful hub, multimodal transportation systems are necessary, he said, adding that the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway became an important step for Azerbaijan.
Construction of the port is the next extremely important step, he noted.
Hololei said that during his visit he saw that Azerbaijan has ambitious plans and expressed confidence that these plans will be implemented thanks to the correct use of the advantageous geographical location of the country and the determination to create a well-functioning transport system in order to become an important regional hub.
Hololei said that he had interesting discussions with Ziyadov, adding that they already met in January in Brussels.
After that, the EU started allocation of one million euros as part of technical assistance to support the further development of the port, in particular for the use of modern technologies, digitalization of the transport sector, including the maritime sector, Hololei noted.
He said that they also discussed phases of the port’s development, adding that the first phase will be completed this year. The port’s development project is very important for Azerbaijan, the region and the entire Eurasian space, said Hololei.
Azerbaijan is certainly very well placed to play an important role as transport and logistics hub with its very strategic location and serving as transport corridor linking Europe and Asia, he noted. Hololei said that the EU has been supporting and will continue to support the Port of Baku both in terms of enhancement of operational capacities and its becoming an international logistics and trade center.
This modern port is very much part of the extended Trans-European Transport Network, he said. Activity of the port, the BTK railway will make it possible to shorten the cargo delivery time by about two weeks, and for the logistics and transportation sphere, this means saving money, he added. This is also an important alternative route, because the EU is interested in diversification of routes from Europe to Asia and back, as this creates additional opportunities in transport and logistics sphere, he said.
