Uzbekistan is developing routes to the Caspian Sea
Uzbekistan is one of two countries in the world that are “twice landlocked,” meaning that you need to cross at least two states to get to the World Ocean. Therefore, today the Uzbek Transport System Development Strategy until 2035 pays special attention to the formation of transport corridors so that local cargo reaches seaports faster.
Vesti.uz reports this
The first step was taken at the beginning of November 2023 in Tashkent on the sidelines of the First Transport Forum of the SCO member countries. Then a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the issue of the formation and development of the international multimodal transport corridor Russia - Caspian Sea - Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan. It will allow Uzbekistan to build supply chains all the way to Turkey through Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia.
Alexander Alekseev from the Caspian-Eurasia Center for International and Socio-Political Research noted: “The Uzbek sales market, although decent by CIS standards, is not dimensionless. It is vital to increase exports. But what if Uzbekistan is literally surrounded on all sides by steppes and deserts, impassable mountains? There is only one way out - to cooperate with our neighbors, with our largest partners, including Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and Transcaucasia in finding and creating new roads to foreign markets.”
Alexander Alekseev from the Caspian-Eurasia Center for International and Socio-Political Research noted: “The Uzbek sales market, although decent by CIS standards, is not dimensionless. It is vital to increase exports. But what if Uzbekistan is literally surrounded on all sides by steppes and deserts, impassable mountains? There is only one way out - to cooperate with our neighbors, with our largest partners, including Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and Transcaucasia in finding and creating new roads to foreign markets.”
Now the task is to establish a route through the Caspian Sea, bypassing Kazakhstan. This will allow, firstly, to avoid congestion on the Kazakh border, and secondly, to transfer part of the cargo flow to the ports of Astrakhan and Makhachkala. This route is the shortest and most profitable for the supply of goods from Uzbekistan to Russia.
Experts believe that Uzbekistan will only benefit if it integrates into new transport corridors in time and becomes a transistor country for the entire Central Asia. This guarantees an increase in state revenues, new jobs and an increase in the well-being of the population.
Let us remind you that recently the growth of trade turnover with Russia has increased by 26.5% (to $8.3 billion). Moreover, exports from Uzbekistan increased by 50%, reaching an unprecedented 2.8 billion dollars!
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