ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, February 14. Turkmenistan has created the Ministry of Automobile Roads on the basis of the former State Agency for Road Construction Management, Trend reports via the press service of the Turkmen Government.
The decision was made by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov at a Cabinet meeting on Turkmenistan's 2025 macroeconomic performance. The President appointed Hojamurat Kerimov as the head of the new ministry, which was established in order to modernize the country’s road infrastructure and improve the efficiency of the transport system.
Starting from January 1, 2026, Turkmenistan begin to apply new simplified licensing rules for road freight transport. The presidential decree approved a new Regulation on Licensing of Road Transport Activities, which streamlines requirements and conditions for obtaining licenses for cargo transportation. The document also updates and simplifies the list of documents required from applicants.
Turkmenistan plays a key transit role in Central Asia, participating in the Lapis Lazuli Corridor (linking Afghanistan/Central Asia to Europe via Türkiye), as a potential link in the INSTC (via Iran/Persian Gulf), and as a Caspian Sea nation leveraging the Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian) and the TRACECA network (Europe-Caucasus-Asia) to diversify trade, connecting to Europe, Türkiye, and the Indian Ocean through the Ashgabat Agreement, aiming to become a major Eurasian logistics hub and reduce reliance on traditional routes.