TRADE-

Iran has inked a commercial roadmap with Turkmenistan to boost bilateral trade to 3 bn, Tehran Times reported last week. The roadmap is expected to be finalized before the Iranian President’s upcoming visit to Turkmenistan, but no timeline has been disclosed.

A new freetrade zone? Both parties are planning on establishing joint freetrade zones at Sarakhs in Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province and the city of Lotfabad along the Iran-Turkenistan border to strengthen border markets — particularly in the Incheh Borun region. Consultations were underway in August 2024 for Iran and Turkmenistan to establish a joint trade zone in the Incheh-Borun region.

Other targets from the agreement include:

  • Increasing transit volumes to 20 mn tons — with a 16 mn ton target set out for 2028;
  • Ramping up rail freight transit with Turkmenistan to 4 mn tons, up from 1.6 mn tons;
  • Reaching a bilateral gas agreement between the two countries to build a gas pipeline to Turkmenistan;
  • Expanding infrastructure at Sarakhs and Incheh Borun border terminals.

ZONES-

QFZ + Samsung C&T partner up on sustainable projects: The Qatar Freezones Authority (QFZ) has inked an agreement with Samsung C&T to collaborate on five sustainable projects for the country’s freezones and the region, QNA reports. The five projects include a Competency Center in solar technologies, a 285 MW ground solar farm, an off-grid rooftop solar energy solution, a low-carbon bioproducts plant, and a digital infrastructure project.

We knew this was coming: QFZ and Samsung C&T signed an MoU in 2023 to explore co-investment opportunities in green infrastructure within Qatar’s freezones. The partnership was said then to be targeting sustainability initiatives including energy transition, harnessing sustainable materials, and eco-friendly electronics.

PORTS-

Fujairah Port taps Endava for digital transformation push: Fujairah Port signed a five-year agreement with UK-based software development firm Endava to digitize port operations and roll out a new Port Community System branded MarHub, according to a press release. The platform will be cloud-native, hosted on UAE-based Microsoft Azure servers to ensure full data residency and boost automation processes such as resource scaling.

Timeline: The initiative will be deployed in six phases, starting with vessel call management, gate pass security, dry and liquid bulk operations, and real-time analytics. Phase one is expected to go live in 4Q 2025. Fujairah Port’s annual throughput comes in at 120 mn metric tons.

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