BUSAN, NOVEMBER 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia and 17 other countries, including Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey and Russia signed an agreement in the city of Busan (South Korea), by which they envisage to create a branchy network of railways that will join Asia and Europe. According to Radio Liberty, under this program initiated in the UN as far back as the 1960s and now called "Railway Silk Road", the railaways will pass through 28 countries covering over 80 thousand kilometers. The RA Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication Hrant Beglarian told Associated Press that Armenia with its only railway exit to a Georgian port hopes that implementation of the program will allow to reduce the price of transported goods. "Any regional program related to cooperation in the sphere of transport is very important for us," the deputy minister stated. According to preliminary calculations, new railways of a total of 6,500 km will be constructed, which will require about 2.5 bln USD.

---