BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 10. Kyrgyzstan will
achieve a transport breakthrough thanks to the railway connecting
it with China and Uzbekistan, the Chief Expert, National Institute
for Strategic Initiatives under the President of the Kyrgyz
Republic, Kamilia Igrebaeva said, Trend reports.
She made the remark on the sidelines of the 13th meeting of the SCO Think Tanks Forum on “Resonance of Development and Security: Regional Cooperation and Governance in the Institutional Transformation of CICA.”
"First of all, it should be noted that Kyrgyzstan is in a transport dead end: we have no access to the sea, and the railway network is only sporadically connected to neighboring countries. This is a border area with Kazakhstan and a zone with Uzbekistan, where the length of the tracks is small. Most freight is transported either by road or in small batches on existing railway lines. What we have planned, the “construction project of the century” involving China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, has already begun. This project will enable us to break the transport deadlock, as goods from China will be able to be transported through Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan and from there on to Europe," she said.
According to her, this will significantly increase cargo traffic and bring considerable economic benefits to the country.
"Uzbekistan also has no access to the sea, so the railway route is extremely important. Chinese lines are narrow gauge, while the roads through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are broad gauge. Technological solutions allow trains to be adapted: the wheels are rearranged, and trains run on broad gauge tracks through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This reduces transportation time by 8-10 days, which is especially important for perishable goods and creates significant economic opportunities. This is also important for Uzbekistan, and China gets a shorter route to Europe, bypassing the Far East or southern regions," Irgebaeva said.
She noted that in the future, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway could connect with the Middle Corridor.