The Italian guests noted the importance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway for Europe, emphasizing it was as important as the energy projects of Azerbaijan for Italy and other European countries. According to them, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will improve the European-Asian cargo transportation system in the 21st century and going to increase the freight turnover. During the conversation, prospects of the transported cargo from Trieste and Bari ports of Italy to the Mersin port of Turkey, and then through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad to Iran and Central Asian countries as well as China were discussed. Furthermore, the prospects of cargo transportation along the proposed route were reviewed and its competitiveness was reported. Furthermore, taking advantage from Italian railways, the possibility of cargo transportation to France, Germany and Benelux countries was taken into consideration. The Italian delegation provided information on import / export operations and potential cargo transportation between European Union and Iran, Central Asia and China to the Azerbaijan Railways and declared their interest in collaboration. At the end of the meeting, a memorandum was signed between the parties regarding to results of the negotiation.
