Turkey, UAE, Pakistan agree on new shipping route

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Turkey, the UAE and Pakistan have agreed on a new shipping route for transporting goods, Yeni Shafak newspaper has reported.

Turkey activated the TIR Carnet agreement with the UAE and Pakistan, which will provide time and cost advantages for exporting companies, especially during the container crisis caused by the pandemic, the report added.

Under the agreement, the goods departing from the UAE and moving to Iran via the Persian Gulf will be transported through Turkey, Turkey’s Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) said.

The goods such as aluminum and silica, which were transported from Sharjah Port in the UAE to Bandar Abbas in Iran via the Persian Gulf, entered Turkey through the Gurbulak Border Gate and were delivered to Iskenderun.

The TIR Carnet makes it possible to reduce the shipping duration to six-eight days, which is more convenient than the Sharjah-Mersin route through the Suez Canal that takes 20 days by sea from the UAE.

Moreover, through the other route, the first land transportation on the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul land transportation corridor was made with the TIR Carnet in October.

The cargoes carried by the 5,300-km-corridor reached the Istanbul Muratbey Customs Directorate from Pakistan. The corridor established with Pakistan aims to reduce maritime transport, which currently takes one month, to 10 to 12 days on the land route and to accelerate the trade between the two countries.

The agreement was signed by Turkey’s commerce and transport ministries and the Pakistani ambassador Syrus Sajjad Qazi with the presence of representatives from Pakistan and Iran, as well as international organizations such as the International Road Transport Association (IRU) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) with the meeting he provided, the report added.

Along with its time-saving features, the project will also significantly reduce shipping costs and will positively impact Turkey’s foreign trade.

Furthermore, a new maritime road trade route was created between Turkey and the UAE under the Customs Convention on the International Carriage of Goods by Road (1975 TIR Convention), the relevant authorities reported.

“Our Commerce Ministry officials, who are the contracting parties of the TIR Convention in our country, shared their experiences with the UAE authorities during the field visits and provided the necessary assistance to the carrier company in the first transportation,” the report added.

The signing of the agreement between the transport ministries of both countries will contribute to the development of the aforementioned route.

The TIR Carnet is used as a transit document that facilitates international land transport and trade.