BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 6. Alexander Fiti, head of the Aviation Security Department of the Civil Aviation Authority of Moldova, noted that the seminar in Baku served as an effective platform for exchanging experience on aviation security issues, and countries acknowledged the presence of new threats in the region due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
The TRACECA program announced a meeting of port and shipping company executives from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan on May 10 in Baku to discuss issues related to enhancing the efficiency of transport infrastructure in the Caspian region.
Transportation through the Caspian is important for landlocked countries.
Thus, Co-Chairman of the Board of the Kyrgyz-Azerbaijani Development Fund Almaz Mambetov said that in Kyrgyzstan, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is under construction, which will provide access to Turkmenistan, from where goods can reach Azerbaijan via the Caspian Sea.
Thus, through Azerbaijan, goods from Kyrgyzstan will be able to reach European markets.
Last week, Deputy Minister of Transport of Russia Dmitry Zverev pointed out another new transport corridor - the Belarus - Russia - Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan (BRKUAP), entailing the construction of the Trans-Afghan Railway with a gauge of 1,520 mm (Russian standard) from Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan to Parachinar city in Pakistan, along with aiding in the development of a feasibility study for the project.
Russia has also promoted the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a transport corridor that has been operational since 2000. During their meeting in Moscow on May 3, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov discussed steps to develop this ITC to ensure stable freight transportation and recognized the need to modernize railway infrastructure within the framework of the INSTC, one branch of which goes through Azerbaijan to Iran.
Besides, last week, the Russian RZD Logistics company dispatched the first full-fledged agroexpress from the South Ural Transport and Logistics Center to India via the Eastern route of the INSTC, specifically through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Iran, from where the agroexpress with containers will reach the port of Mundra (India) by sea, originating from the port of Bandar Abbas.
A delegation from Azerbaijan will participate in the May 14–19 International Economic Forum "Russia - Islamic World: Kazan Forum," which will discuss the development of the INSTC and the removal of bottlenecks in the transport and logistics cooperation sphere.
The Japan Times' English-language edition listed the lack of necessary transport infrastructure in the northern part of Iran (the Rasht-Astara railway) among the weaknesses of the INSTC.
Last week, various discussion platforms placed significant emphasis on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (TITR or Middle Corridor).
For instance, Senior Fellow of the Chinese Taihe Institute Din Jianwei highlighted the increasing importance of the Middle Corridor since the onset of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, with Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan being the crucial countries along the TITR.
The Malaysian Senate Chairman Datuk Mutang Tagal, during a meeting with the leadership of the Baku International Sea Trade Port (BISTP), expressed Malaysia's interest in developing cooperation with ports in the Caspian and Black Sea regions, seeing them as vital segments of the Middle Corridor and opportunities for trade expansion.
Nicholas Castillo, an expert at the Caspian Policy Center (CPC), one of the think tanks in the United States, noted in an article this week that the United Kingdom, like many European countries, is interested in the role of the Middle Corridor for transporting goods from China to Europe.
This topic was among those discussed during the late April visit of UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron to Central Asian countries.
Ambassador of Poland to Azerbaijan Rafal Poborski noted that "after the start of the war in Ukraine, due to international sanctions affecting communication through Belarus and Russia, the Middle Corridor has become an interesting alternative to other routes."
First Vice Prime Minister of Georgia and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili said in Tbilisi at a panel discussion on the topic "Enhancing Connectivity: European Connectivity (Renewable Energy and Digital Connectivity), Middle Corridor (Reshaping Euro-Asia Connectivity)" within the framework of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) annual meeting that the Middle Corridor is rapidly gaining popularity as an extraordinary alternative to Black Sea ports or land routes for facilitating trade flows between Europe and Asia.
Head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Office in Azerbaijan Nataly Mouravidze highlighted that "EBRD economists are monitoring the significant steps Azerbaijan is taking to develop the Middle Corridor trade route."
During the ADB meeting in Tbilisi, Azerbaijan's Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov stated that when financing the development of the Middle Corridor, preference is given to financing sources such as loans from the World Bank, ADB, EBRD, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and development funds from Arab countries.
Sharifov emphasized that the digitalization of the Middle Corridor is underway, particularly concerning customs procedures.
The minister highlighted that there is growing global recognition of the importance of the Middle Corridor as a significant alternative route and asset.
Additionally, he noted that the Zangezur Corridor will increase the capacity of the Middle Corridor, and Azerbaijan is working in that direction.
Larisa Kislyakova, chair of the Partnership for Transport and Logistics in Central Asia, said in Tbilisi during the ADB meeting that to enhance the efficiency of the Middle Corridor, it is necessary to increase the number of wagons and modernize ferries, as well as to review the transit permit system and address several customs and border issues along the route.
Furthermore, the European Union expressed interest in the Middle Corridor route during a meeting with a delegation from the European Commission (EC) on Neighborhood and Enlargement on May 4 in Baku at the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan.
The development of the Middle Corridor and the integration of European states into it will be the central theme of the European Silk Road Summit, which will take place in Vienna on November 27–28 this year.
On May 2, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, speaking at a panel discussion on the topic “A joint path to success: Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan” within the framework of the Tashkent Investment Forum, pointed to the successful development of Azerbaijani-Uzbek ties in the field of transport.
According to him, the two friendly states reached a mutual understanding and applied a special tariff policy to ensure comfortable conditions for the transportation of goods.
He also hailed the high-level cooperation between UzAuto Motors and Azermash.
Additionally, Air Astana announced plans to increase the number of flights from Almaty to Baku (Azerbaijan) in the summer schedule to three times a week.
