In the first four months of this year the volume of cargo turnover between Uzbekistan and Iran made up 293,000 tonnes, UzReport.com reported.

Moreover, it is expected to reach 1 million tones by the end of this year, the Director of the Iran Railroads Company Dr. Ziyari said during meeting with the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Iran Ilkhom Akromov.

Touching upon the issue of trilateral project on construction of railroad connecting Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, Dr. Ziyari emphasized that the Caspian railroad will in no way affect the transportation of cargo through Serahs, as it will be passing further to the west along the Caspian Sea shore, ISNA reported.

Further during the talk Dr. Ziyari said that his company was prepared to cooperate with the Government of Uzbekistan in the implementation of joint investment projects in Serahs.

He said the railroad connecting Serahs, Bender and Abbas had two tracks on the segment to Sirjan, and that works were still being carried on on the construction of two-track ways on other segments.

Concerning the complexities that Uzbekistan is facing in transportation of its cotton to the territory of Iran, Dr. Ziyari said the Iranian party was taking all the necessary steps to speed up the transportation through Serahs.

The Director of Iran Railroads expressed his hope that the expansion of bilateral cooperation and the use of cargo trains intended for the transportation of large containers (trucks) would increase the volume of cargo transported between the two countries and increase the speed of their transportation.

Ilkhom Akramov in turn mentioned that the volume of cargo turnover between the two countries made up US$600 million last year, and this year the indicator was to increase to US$800 million.

Reminding of the Tashkent International Conference of Central Asian countries scheduled for 19 November, the Ambassador noted that such an event was very useful from the viewpoint of the development of bilateral cooperation and invited the Director of Iranian Railways to visit Uzbekistan.