ASTANA, July 4. /TASS/. Azerbaijan considers interaction on the East-West and North-South international transport corridors to be an important area of cooperation with member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the country's President Ilham Aliyev said speaking at the summit in the SCO plus format in Astana,

"Interaction along the East-West and North-South transport corridors is an important area of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the member states of the organization," he said, stressing that "the geographical location and significant investments in transport infrastructure have allowed Azerbaijan to become one of the transport and logistics hubs Eurasia."

According to him, due to Azerbaijani investments, the annual capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which is an integral part of the Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route), increased from 1 million to 5 million tons. In addition, Azerbaijan intends to increase the capacity of the international sea trade port of Alyat on the Caspian Sea from 15 million to 25 million tons per year, Aliyev noted.

"Azerbaijan also plays an important role in the development of the North-South transport corridor. The railway and road infrastructure of the Azerbaijani segment of this corridor is ready and functioning successfully," Aliyev said. He said that work is currently underway to expand the volume of rail transportation to 15 million tons, with a subsequent increase, if necessary, to 30 million tons per year.

The intergovernmental agreement on the creation of the North-South transcontinental transport corridor was signed by Russia, India and Iran in 2000. The project is aimed at attracting the transit of cargo flows from India, Iran and the Persian Gulf countries through Russia to Europe (compared to the sea route through the Suez Canal, the distance is more than halved, reducing time and cost of transportation). Now the project unites several different transport systems of individual states.

Founded in 2001, the SCO is an intergovernmental organization that currently brings together India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. At the most recent SCO summit in New Delhi last June, Belarus signed a memorandum of commitment in order to obtain the status of a member state of the organization. In total, the SCO family, which includes dialogue partners and observers, consists of 26 countries.