Transit of goods via Iran grows 22% in current year

Transit of goods via Iran grows 22% in current year
The Iranian deputy minister of roads and urban development says transit of goods via the country has increased 22 percent in the past eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 20, 2012).
“Since the beginning of the [current Iranian] year, 7.583 million tons of goods have been transited, showing a 22-percent rise compared with the same period last year,” said Shahriyar Afandizadeh in an interview reported by PressTV.
The figure shows that Iran is 31 percent ahead of its transit objectives as per the country’s Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2011-2015) the official said.
Afandizadeh went on to say that land transport has accounted for 92 percent of the transit figure with railroad accounting for the remaining eight percent.
The major part of the Iranian transit has taken place between Iraq and the UAE, Turkey and Turkmenistan, and the UAE to Iraq which were the most important origins and destinations of transit through Iran.
Transit consignments mostly consist of fuel, oil products, petrochemicals, construction materials, cotton, home appliances, vehicles, foodstuff and fertilizers, the official pointed out.
Afandizadeh noted that developing Iran’s transit infrastructure and transportation terminals as well of promoting Tehran’s ties with the neighboring countries are major reasons behind the growth in transit via the Islamic Republic.