The Turkmen delegation is taking part in the VI international transport and logistics business forum “New Silk Way”, which takes place on Wednesday, October 4, in the capital of Kazakhstan – Astana.

The meeting is attended by heads of sectoral departments from Europe and Asia, representatives of leading companies and experts in the field of transport and transportation, who discuss issues of cooperation and integration of transport systems, the development of the Middle Corridor route, as well as new technologies and innovations that increase the efficiency of cargo transportation and improve terms of delivery.

The forum began with a strategic session “Trends in multimodal transportation on the New Silk Way”, at which the head of Kazakhstan Railways, the ministers of transport of Turkey, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the vice-ministers of Latvia, Georgia, the deputy director general of the Chinese Railways Group of Companies, the Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia made speeches. The potential of Turkmenistan as an important link of the New Silk Way was presented in the report with a video presentation by Batyr Annaev, Deputy Director General of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers.

He informed his colleagues about the active construction and modernization of roads and railways in Turkmenistan, the modernization of the Turkmenbashi international seaport, which has turned into a multifunctional transport hub, and the beginning of the construction of cargo ships and ferries at the Balkan national shipyard, which will significantly enhance trade turnover and transit of goods across Caspian Sea.

In addition, construction of a new international airport is currently underway in the city of Jebel in the Balkan region. In addition to the international airports operating in the cities of Ashgabat, Turkmenbashi, Turkmenabat and Kerki, this facility will become the fifth international airport in the country.

Accordingly, the frequency and geographical coverage of flights increases. Cargo flights have been established to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Seoul and Milan. It is planned to further increase domestic air traffic to improve transport accessibility of the regions, as well as expand air traffic with countries in Asia and Europe.

According to a report by the Eurasian Development Bank, the length of paved roads in Central Asia has increased by 24.5 thousand km over the past 20 years. The most significant progress has been noted in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where the most large-scale road construction has been launched. According to the EDB, as a percentage of indicators in 2021 compared to 2000, Turkmenistan is in first place in terms of the increase in the length of the public road network.

Construction of the Ashgabat-Turkmenabat highway with a length of 600 km is underway. The Ashgabat-Tejen section, 254 km long, was put into operation last year. The Turkmenbashi - Garabogaz - border with Kazakhstan expressway planned for construction with a bridge across the Garabogaz Bay should be part of the Eastern road route of the international transport corridor "North - South"

Of great importance for this corridor, as well as connections to other regional and international transport corridors, is the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, which provides an end-to-end uniform tariff for shippers along the entire route. An example of its effectiveness was the delivery by container train with 50 forty-foot containers with automotive components from the northeastern station of Jingan in the Chinese city of Dalian, through Kazakhstan, the Altynkol and Bolashak border crossings, then through the Incheburun station on the Iranian-Turkmen border to its destination - Iranian Jolfa station - twice as fast as previously along the sea route.

And this is just one example in one direction, and there are many of them being developed in the country with the connection of multimodal logistics, ambitious goals are being set to increase the volume of container transportation with a reduction in delivery times.

In this context, Turkmenistan is interested in implementing joint infrastructure projects that will allow the country’s transport system to be integrated into Euro-Asian transport corridors. A particularly promising area is cooperation within the framework of the New Silk Way initiative.

In addition to interaction at the interstate level, Turkmenistan is also interested in establishing direct partnerships with private transport and logistics companies from other countries. We are talking about both large international logistics and transport corporations and small specialized firms. The annual forum “International Transport and Transit Corridors: Interconnection and Development”, held annually in Ashgabat, has become an effective platform for discussing prospects for cooperation and strengthening business ties.

The Astana forum also discusses the development of the Middle Corridor, new opportunities for cargo and passenger air transportation, road transport services, advanced logistics solutions in the railway sector and in organizing trade flows on sea routes, as well as scientific and personnel support for the transport industry.

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