BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 22. This week was full of new milestones in the development of regional transport corridors, as well as the release of statistical information on the accomplishments of the transport sector, Trend reports.
Thus, the Senate (upper house) of the Parliament of Kazakhstan adopted the laws "On ratification of the Agreement on International Combined Freight Transportation between the Governments of Member States of the Organization of Turkic States", "On ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the People's Republic of China on International Road Transportation", and "On ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor".
Also, Astana hosted the regional forum Silk Road in the Sky - Kazakhstan Cargo Hub on cargo transportation and logistics under the auspices of the International Air Cargo Association (IACA).
Additionally, it became known that from January through May 2024, Kazakhstan Railways (KR, a national company) transported 102.4 million tons of cargo. Meanwhile, domestic loading increased by 2.5 percent compared to the same period last year and amounted to 68.2 million tons. More than 34.2 million tons of cargo were shipped for export by rail.
Besides, it became known from the news of the Central Asian countries that 7 to 13 million tons of cargo would be transported along the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad. This was announced by the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers - Head of the Presidential Administration of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Japarov in his speech at the meeting of the Jogorku Kenesh (Kyrgyz Parliament). He emphasized that this initiative will provide short-term access to the ocean and establish trade relations with the countries of the Middle East and Europe.
The National Statistical Committee of Kyrgyzstan reported that Kyrgyzstan imported 4,432 trucks worth $44.7 million from January through April 2024. This is a 27.7 percent increase in quantity and a 27.6 percent increase in value compared to the corresponding figure for 2023.
Azerbaijan's Ministry of Digital Development and Transport announced that discussions were held on June 21 on expanding cooperation in road freight transportation between Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia.
Deputy Director of the Fourth Department of CIS Countries of the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Kalugin named the North-South International Transport Corridor (NSITC) a flagship project of the region and important for relations between Russia and Azerbaijan in Baku on June 21. According to him, in the last two years, this project has been in an active phase of realization, in particular, in the direction of creating a powerful western branch of the ITC, which runs from Russia through Azerbaijan to the south of Iran. Referring to the Middle Corridor, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Azerbaijan positions itself as a transportation and logistics hub, and the success of the development of a particular ITC is determined by the indicators of cargo transshipment.
The head of the EIB's regional office for the South Caucasus, Maciej CZURA, told Trend earlier this week that the EIB Global platform provides advisory support and technical assistance to improve safety at railway crossings along the Baku-Boyuk Kesik railway corridor, an important link of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) in the Middle Corridor.
Georgia and Ukraine are member countries of the Middle Corridor. It was announced this week that ferry services between Georgia and Ukraine, which were halted after February 2022, will be restored in July. It is planned that the first voyage from Chernomorsk (Odessa Region) towards Batumi could be made on July 9.
Furthermore, a ceremony for the commissioning of the Rasht-Caspian railroad - an additional link of the North-South transport corridor - took place this week in the Iranian province of Gilan. In the future, it is planned to build the next section of tracks from the port of Caspian to the city of Astara in the northwest of the country (Rasht-Astara is an important section of the North-South Transport Corridor).
Moreover, this week the State Committee on Statistics (SCS) of Azerbaijan reported that transportation of cargoes by Azerbaijan Railway (AAR) from January through May 2024 increased by 0.9 percent against the indicator of the same period in 2023. According to the SCC data, Azerbaijani Railways transported 7.65 million tons of cargo in the first five months of 2024, compared to 7.59 million tons in the same period of 2023.
The SCC also stated that cargo transportation by road transport in Azerbaijan from January through May 2024 amounted to 54.4 million tons, compared to 50.5 million tons from January through May 2023. According to SCC data, in five months of 2024, passenger traffic using road transport in Azerbaijan amounted to 702.9 million passengers, which is 8.6 percent more than from January through May 2023.
Nevertheless, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC also provided information on the transportation of passengers. Thus, CJSC provided transportation for almost 3.3 million passengers from January through May 2024, which is 21 percent more than the passenger transportation indicator for five months in 2023.
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