Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

The Baku International Sea Trade Port has begun cooperation with companies operating in the city of Venlo in the Limburg Province of the Netherlands, which is considered one of the transport and logistics hubs of Europe.

Port of Baku, the province of Limburg and Dutch companies have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation.

The Memorandum envisages cooperation with the Cabooter Group, SMART Logistics Center, the Limburg Development and Investment Company, Greenport Venlo, KLG Europe, Northern Limburg Development Council, the Azerbaijan-Netherlands Business Hub and the Fontys University of Applied Sciences.

After the signing ceremony, Director General of Baku International Sea Trade Port, Taleh Ziyadov, noted that these agreements will help attract Dutch and European companies to the Port of Baku.

The sides also reached a preliminary agreement with the logistics companies operating in Venlo for the first test container transportation along the Venlo-Istanbul-Baku-China route in May this year.

At the same time, in order to expand bilateral trade relations, discussions were held on the opening of the European representative office of the Baku Port in Venlo.

As part of the agreement reached with the Fontys University, Baku Port specialists will be involved in training and practical experience for a six-month period in Venlo.

Baku International Sea Trade Port was commissioned in 2018. Its territory is 400 hectares. The port can simultaneously receive up to 12 ships.

The Baku Port in Azerbaijan’s Alat settlement is expected to become one of the leading trade and logistics hubs of Eurasia. The capacity of the port is 15 million tons of cargo, including 100,000 containers per year. It’s going to increase to 25 million tons of cargo, including 500 000 TEU with completion of the 2nd phase.

In the future, it is planned to create a free economic zone in the surrounding areas, including the territory of the port.

The port in Alat is a transportation hub linking the west (Turkey & EU), south (Iran & India) and north (Russia). In addition, the port's location is linked to existing highways and railways, connecting the port to the inland regions of the country.

In 2018, the total volume of cargo transportation at all terminals of the Port of Baku was about 3.8 million tons, of which 84.5 percent (3.2 million tons) accounted for transit cargo.

In the first quarter of 2019, the volume of cargo transportation via the Baku International Sea Trade Port exceeded 1.03 million tons. More than 861,000 tons or 83.1 percent of all cargo transportation volume accounted for transit.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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