Turkmenistan - on the map of Eurasian cargo flows
Two Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and the Trans-Caspian corridor have rosier prospects for further growth in the volume of transit transportations between China and Europe as compared with other existing routes. This idea is expressed by the experts of the analytical publication Global Risk Insights. Today, China uses three steel routes to deliver its exports to the EU countries – the Trans-Siberian railway through Russia and Mongolia, the railway systems of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan with further access to the Caspian ports. Recently, the transit attractiveness of Turkmen and Kazakh railway networks has raised significantly with the recent completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, analysts say. Further growth of cargo transportation through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan is forecasted by the fact that China is the largest exporter and the second largest importer of the European Union. In addition, by the end of November last year, China came out on top in the ranking of exporters to Turkey. Georgia also claims to boost trade with China, especially with the entry into legal force of the Chinese-Georgian free trade agreement from 1 January 2018. However, any aspirations to intensify foreign trade cooperation cannot be embodied in practice without the availability of physical infrastructure and affordable corridors for the movement of goods. Thus, the mutual economic interest of both countries along the BTK route and exporters from China logically turns Turkmenistan with its developed transport system into a natural hub of Eurasian trade.
