11:25 - 26.10.2018

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October 26, Fineko/abc.az. Azerbaijan has favorable geographical position, but without modern infrastructure this geographical position does not matter.

During the 6th International Humanitarian Forum Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan has no access to open seas and oceans.

"So, all our transport, energy, communication lines must pass through the territory of other countries and in order to achieve this, we need, first of all, very close friendly relationships with neighboring states and countries covering quite large geography. In the field of transport, we’ve set a task to turn Azerbaijan into a powerful transport center not only in the region, but also in global scale. We’ve consistently started to achieve this goal, and today we can say with full confidence that we’ve managed to achieve that," Aliyev said.

According to country’s head, modern transport infrastructure has been created – six international airports, railway lines connecting Azerbaijan with all neighboring countries and covering the main part of our country, roads with length over 15,000 km, laid over the past 15 years, the largest merchant fleet in the Caspian basin with more than 200 ships.

"These are projects that require large financing, and they are implemented. Commissioning of a new important commercial port in the Caspian Sea has contributed to this work. Today, the East–West and North–South transport corridors pass through the territory of Azerbaijan. The North-South transport corridor has expanded further. Compared to last year, cargo transported through the North–South corridor was 100 times more this year. This is just the beginning. Today, we already provide transport corridor South–West. Besides, transport corridor East–West also runs through the territory of Azerbaijan," the head of state said.

President Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan is the only country participating in all these transport and infrastructure projects.