Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 21
By Nigar Guliyeva - Trend:
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China are planning to hold a working meeting in Tashkent in January 2018 to consider issues of developing the road transport, Sputnik Uzbekistan reported.
The meeting will mull issues related to use of the transport corridor Tashkent - Andijan (Uzbekistan) - Osh - Irkeshtam (Kyrgyzstan) - Kashgar (China), and also the Intergovernmental Agreement between Uzbekistan and China on international road transport coming into force on Jan. 1, 2018.
For the full operation of the cargo transportation between Uzbekistan and China along this route, it is necessary to solve the technical issue , that is exchange forms for entry permits. The Uzbek side is ready for this. However, China lack an agreement on the transit of goods through the territory of Kyrgyzstan, these countries have only a bilateral agreement.
"Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have an agreement on transit to third countries. Thus, Uzbek trucks will be able to reach China, while Chinese trucks will not be able to reach Uzbekistan. The Chinese side can at first allow Uzbek carriers to enter unilaterally, and in parallel work on the coordination of all legislative nuances with Kyrgyzstan. We will discuss all these issues at a meeting in January in Tashkent, " a source at the Uzbek Agency for Automobile and River Transport told Sputnik Uzbekistan.
Currently, transportation between Uzbekistan and China is carried out mainly by rail through Kazakh-Chinese checkpoints, which entails significant costs and time lost.
The new transport corridor Tashkent - Andijan (Uzbekistan) - Osh - Irkeshtam (Kyrgyzstan) - Kashgar (China) is the shortest automobile route from the Fergana Valley to China.
In late October, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China successfully organized the first pilot caravan of nine cars that passed along this route.
Presidents of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan Shavkat Mirziyayev and Almazbek Atambayev agreed on the construction of the Tashkent-Andijan-Osh-Irkeshtam-Kashgar road during the talks in Bishkek in early September.
