BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 2. This week it became known that Baku International Sea Trade Port was planned to be turned into a transport hub for the regional countries, Trend reports.
Thus, Azerbaijan needs to develop domestic infrastructure, expand transport links with neighboring countries, as well as access international markets.
In addition, this week Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Kazakhstan had signed a quadrilateral declaration on the Trans-Caspian East-West Corridor. The document emphasized the importance of the Corridor and strengthens the integration potential of the four countries in the international transport system. The declaration also noted the important role of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway line in promoting competitive transport between Europe and Asia, and stressed the significant need for infrastructure investments to increase the quality of transport operations along this route.
It was also reported that Uzbekistan's Fly Khiva Group LLC airline together with Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC (AZAL) would open direct flights on the Baku-Tashkent-Baku route from April 2, 2022. The flights would be carried out once a week, on Saturdays.
Secretary General of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission (PS IGC) TRACECA Asset Assavbayev commented on the possible inclusion of the Zangazur corridor in the Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus Asia (TRACECA). It was reported that the Zangazur corridor played an essential role in connecting Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan, as well as provided access to Turkey and other countries. Its inclusion into TRACECA would allow creating good conditions for international transit traffic in the future. This issue is within the competence of the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC), which serves to perform all necessary procedures.
Moreover, the PS IGC welcomes all economic and transport links in the region, as well as the development of some routes. All the developments would provide for diversifying transport routes, and the early unblocking of transport communications would increase the throughput of the region and allow its countries to benefit from attracting certain transit cargoes.
Furthermore, it became known that due to recent geopolitical events, interest in the TRACECA corridor is growing every day. However, not every type of cargo can be redirected to this corridor, as the shipping cost will vary. Due to the fact that the TRACECA corridor implies the use of different transport modes, the cost of cargo traffic will be more expensive. There are also limited bandwidth in certain areas.
