BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 19. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, has garnered the focus of leading global think tanks, with the authoritative European Strategy International (SI) Ltd analytical company dedicating a separate article to it in April, Trend reports.
"Robert Cutler, an expert at SI, asserts that the Trans-Caspian corridor stimulates trade and economic expansion between Asia and Europe, a route thoroughly scrutinized by international financial institutions (IFIs), freight forwarders, and traders since 2022, despite its expansion facing geopolitical hurdles," the article reads.
"Following Western sanctions on Russia in response to its military actions against Ukraine, interest in the TITR increased as shippers looked for alternate international trade routes. The route starts in China, travels through Kazakhstan, crosses the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan and Georgia, and then turns back toward Europe via either Türkiye or the Black Sea," Cutler notes.
He emphasizes that the TITR's development is an expansion of a goal that was started by Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan more than six years ago rather than a sudden phenomena.
"It was Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, by strengthening trade across the Caspian, that laid the foundation for the corridor that later became TITR," the expert points out.
According to him, the increased attention to TITR also occurred after the World Bank reported a 33 percent growth in container traffic along this corridor in 2022.
"IFIs like the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and national agencies such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) initiated assessments of the route's development, determining that the TITR required immediate infrastructure and operational enhancements. Subsequently, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan embarked on ambitious initiatives to modernize their transportation infrastructure," the expert stressed.
Cutler believes that the development of TITR and stimulating the production of higher-value goods in TITR member countries can increase economic growth in these countries, contribute to political stability, and create new jobs.
"While the Middle Corridor faces competition from other transcontinental and maritime trade routes, it benefits from the fact that countries along the TITR are committed to economic development, diversification, and strengthened regional cooperation," says the expert.
An other encouraging development is the advanced trade model that the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) recently unveiled for predicting demand and figuring out what steps are required to guarantee the use of the TITR.
The projection by IBRD anticipates a 30 percent surge in trade between China and the European Union by 2030, a 37 percent uptick in trade involving Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, and a 28 percent rise in trade between these nations and the EU.
"These indicators underscore the necessity for TITR advancement, a need reinforced by the UN Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA). Overall, TITR is poised to foster economic collaboration within the Central Asia and Caspian/Black Sea macro-regions, which in turn will influence the evolution of the international economic system and the resolution of anticipated crises in the next two decades," the SI expert explained.
To note, Strategy International Ltd delivers specialized consulting services in economic forecasting, boasting a team of exceptionally skilled industry professionals.
