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Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan is the leading country in cargo transportation in Caspian Sea

19 March 2010 22:09 (UTC +04:00)

On March 19, The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during his speech at the ceremony of laying the foundations of a state-of-the-art shipbuilding yard located near the Heydar Aliyev Baku Deep Water Foundations Plant.

Â«As I said, over the past years we have bought 10 tankers. Totally, we approximately have 350 ships and construction of the plant will promote strengthening of this sphere. In a word, transport infrastructure, which is an important factor for development of any country, in certain cases completely meets to the world standards but in other cases itâ€™s close to it. In those cases, where itâ€™s not close to the world standards, weâ€™ll rearrange itâ€, - the President underlined.
â€œConstruction of shipbuilding yard is the outcome of the international cooperation. The main shareholders of the plant are Azerbaijani companies. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) holds 65 percents of plant shares, Azerbaijan Investment Company â€“ 25%, and one of the largest offshore and marine groups in the world, Singaporean Keppel Offshore & Marine Company â€“ 10%â€, - the President said.

â€œThus, I am confident that this international cooperation will favour construction a new, fine and modern industrial facility in Azerbaijan. Each year the facility will repair nearly 100 ships. The construction, estimated to cost between 300 and 350 million US dollars, is scheduled to complete in 3 years. This facility is estimated to create up to 2,000 jobsâ€, â€“ Ilham Aliyev noted.

â€œKeppel Company has been operating in Azerbaijani market more than ten years and its activity is very successful. Our cooperation with the foreign companies successfully continues. Thanks to this cooperation, we have managed to establish the facilities for launching Azerbaijanâ€™s oil-gas potential. We are very happy that the worldâ€™s leading companies make the investments into Azerbaijan and simultaneously operate as contractors. It extends our potentialâ€, - Mr. Aliyev stressed.