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Qatar plans to invest in the development of southern ports of Iran to help expand economic cooperation and increase bilateral trade, the director of Qatar Ports Management Company said at a press conference in Bushehr earlier this week.
“Qatar has long-term plans to increase trade ties with Iran and invest in its southern ports, which have an economic advantage for both countries … We firmly seek expansion of bilateral relations and nothing can change our strategic decision for expanding ties with Iran,” Mohammad Al-Khanji was also quoted as saying by Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization’s website.
Qatari Delegation
A delegation of high-ranking officials from Qatar’s Ports Management Company recently visited Iran’s southern ports and met their Iranian counterparts. They toured Bushehr and Khorramshahr, as well as Imam Khomeini and Shahid Rajaee ports.
The value of trade between Iran and Qatar hit $275 million in the last fiscal year (March 2017-18), marking a 137% increase compared with the year before. Iran’s exports to the Persian Gulf state reached $248 million to register a 140% growth.
Qatar has been drawing closer to Iran economically, as Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said back in September, since a number of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia abruptly severed diplomatic relations with Doha early June and imposed a blockade on the Persian Gulf country, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups.
The Qatari government has denied the accusation, blasting the blockade as unjustified and a violation of international law.
At present, two southern ports of Bushehr and Lengeh account for the largest portion of goods sent from Iran to Qatar. However, Qatari officials seek stronger ties with all the Iranian southern ports.
“Each of the Iranian ports have their own advantage … We will use each port’s services based on our demands,” Al-Khanji said on the sidelines of the Qatari delegation’s visit to Shahid Rajaee Port.
He noted that Qatar’s Hamad Port and Iran’s Shahid Rajaee Port will soon sign an agreement to start collaboration.
Shahid Rajaee Port Potential
Located 23 kilometers west of the port city of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan Province, Shahid Rajaee Port is Iran’s biggest container port at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.
President Hassan Rouhani broke ground on Phase 3 of Shahid Rajaee Port in February.
“Upon the completion of the terminal within three years, the port’s capacity will increase to 8 million TEU,” Daryush Baqer Javan, the director general of Hormozgan Roads Maintenance and Transportation Organization, said.
“About 10,000 billion rials ($222 million) will only be invested in improving the infrastructure of the port.”
Over half of Iran’s commercial trading is carried out in Shahid Rajaee. The port complex also accounts for over 85% of all container throughput in the country.
The Qatari delegation also showed interest in investing in Khorramshahr Port (Arvand Free Trade Zone) located in Khuzestan Province near Iraqi border. Local firms welcomed the plan, hoping that they could move operations from Dubai, where they are mistreated, to ports in Qatar.
The Qatari official added that revising tariffs is also vital for boosting trade between Tehran and Doha.
Hormozgan Province, where Shahid Rajaee is located, has 32 active ports, including Shahid Bahonar, Jask, Lengeh, Tiab, Aftab and Kish, which act as backups to Shahid Rajaee.
Negin Island: A Golden Opportunity
Among all the southern ports of Iran, Negin Island Port in Bushehr is arguably the best opportunity for Qatari investors.
Negin is a small sedimentary natural island near Bushehr city in southern Iran. Authorities are planning to turn the island into a maritime hub through port construction.
The loading and unloading capacity of Bushehr Port, which is currently 7 million tons per annum, is expected to reach 15 million tons following the construction of three important projects on Negin Island.
The dredging project of the container berth of Negin Island to allow the docking of 50,000-ton vessels has recently begun with an initial investment of 210 billion rials ($5 million).
Nourollah As’adi, caretaker of Ports and Maritime Organization of Bushehr Province, said that with the completion of Bushehr development project on Negin Island in four months, Bushehr container loading and unloading capacity will increase to 600,000 TEUs.
This is twice its current capacity, making it the country’s second biggest container port after Shahid Rajaee Port in Hormozgan Province.
On an official trip to the southern province of Bushehr, President Rouhani in January 2015 launched the construction of a long-awaited seaport on Negin Island, as part of the Bushehr port development project.
The director of Bushehr Province’s ports made the proposal to the Qatari delegation to invest on this island during their visit last week.
Private Sector Cooperation
Welcoming the recent measures taken by port officials of the two countries for expansion of cooperation, Iranian private firms have announced their readiness to play a bigger part in mutual relations of the two countries.
“The private sector is the executive arm of the governments, so Iran and Qatar must provide conditions to activate this sector,” said Masoud Polmeh, the chairman of Shipping Association of Iran.
He believes that the engagement of private sector companies could help reduce costs of conducting Iran-Qatar trade.
https://financialtribune.com/articl...4708/qatar-to-invest-in-iran-s-southern-ports
Qatari Port Authority in Iran to expand Relations
Adelegation of high-ranking officials from Qatar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications as well as Qatar Ports Management Company arrived in Tehran on Monday to survey avenues of expanding cooperation and increasing bilateral trade with their Iranian counterparts.
The delegation is scheduled to visit Iran’s southern ports and become familiar with their commercial and tourism capacities and meet with Iranian provincial port officials and businesspeople, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.
Qatar has been drawing closer to Iran economically, as Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said in September 2017, since a number of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia abruptly severed diplomatic relations with Doha early June and imposed a blockade on the Persian Gulf country, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups.
The Qatari government has denied the accusation, blasting the blockade as unjustified and a violation of international law.
The role of cargo movement through sea route has increased in the country after the siege was imposed on Qatar.
“Most of the [Iranian] shipping lines have now switched their transport services to Qatar, instead of the UAE and Oman,” said Adnan Musapour, a member of Export Committee at Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mining lately.
Valfajr Shipping Company (affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines), Rah Abrisham Marine Shipping Agency and Pasargad Shipping Lines are among Iranian firms that have started services to Qatar.
Masoud Khayatzadeh, the head of Abadan Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber has been holding talks with major Qatari companies to establish an exclusive wharf in Qatar for Iranian goods, to ease transportation to the neighboring state.
According to Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi, the two countries formed a joint committee to boost cooperation in air and marine transportation, during Qatari Minister of Transport Jassim Saif Al Sulaiti’s visit to Tehran in late October.
The two countries are also working on forming a special corridor to ease transportation of goods from Iran to Qatar.
Turkey and Azerbaijan have been using Iran as a land route to export to Qatar, filling the gap in the market in the absence of Saudi Arabia and its allies after the Arab crisis broke out.
According to Mohammed bin Mahdi Al Ahbabi, a board member of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the land route between Turkey and Qatar via Iran reduces the cost of transport of goods by about 80% compared to air cargo.
Turkey, Iran and Qatar signed a transportation pact late last year for boosting trade among the three countries.
Turkey’s Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and his Qatari counterpart Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani were in the Iranian capital Tehran to sign the agreement with Iran’s Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari.
Under the agreement, Iran will be the transit country between Turkey and Qatar. The deal is expected to help accelerate commodity delivery and facilitate trilateral trade, Anadolu Agency reported.
