President orders construction of Turkish-invested transit highway

Tehran, May 22, IRNA – President Hassan Rouhani ordered the construction of 253km-long Tabriz-Bazargan highway with Turkish investment on Wednesday. In a ceremony to kick off Tabriz-Bazargan highway project, President Rouhani who was visiting East Azerbaijan Province, ordered the construction to be launched on Wednesday. Recounting some details, Minister of Road and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi noted that land acquisition of the project is up to Iran’s government, adding that the budget allocated for the project is up to 58000 billion rials. Akhoundi referred to the fact that the Turkish investor will collect the highway revenues for 18 years. Considering that the project will take another five years to complete, a period of 23 years of involvement in the project shows stable Iran-Turkey ties, MNA reported. According to the memorandum of understanding Turkey’s Bergiz Company undertakes to maintain 65% of the required funding for implementation of Tabriz-Bazargan Highway and the remaining 35% will be addressed by Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development. Earlier the governor general of East Azarbaijan Province had said Tabriz-Bazargan Highway is the first road building project which is being implemented with direct participation of foreign investors, adding that the value of the project is over 30 thousand billion rials and it will be highly effective in creating job opportunities. Located on Iran-Turkey border, Bazargan is a city in and the capital of Bazargan District, in Maku County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. It is the most important Iranian ground border for importing and exporting.