BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 12. The Middle Corridor can be one of the most important routes in the world, Aryeh Lightsone, Senior Advisor to the Board of Peace, said.
“With a little innovation and creativity, we can get the Middle Corridor to be one of the most important routes in the world, not just in the region. TRIPP breaks a decades-long deadlock between Azerbaijan and Armenia and increases the chance of sustaining peace and economic viability across Central Asia and the Caspian. Regional integration is not optional: it is critical,” Lightstone said, addressing the 10th anniversary Trans-Caspian Forum, held by the Caspian Policy Center in Washington, DC on June 10.
Lightstone emphasized in his remarks that “we see new opportunities for growth across the Trans-Caspian. The TRIPP model aims to facilitate private investment to enhance infrastructure efficiency and harmonize regulatory frameworks. The TRIPP Plus Enterprise Fund will help facilitate private investment in other private areas of infrastructure efficiency, digital connectivity through infrastructure improvements, customs, and regulatory harmonization. The goal is not to get a larger slice of a finite pot—the goal is to grow that pot.”
The Middle Corridor is an international transport route that connects Asia and Europe through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus and Turkey. It serves as an alternative to the traditional Northern and Southern corridors, offering a shorter overland route that bypasses longer maritime shipping lanes.
Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration, Arman Shakkaliyev earlier said at the Eurasian Economic Forum, that his country plans to boost the capacity of the Middle Corridor to 10 million tons by 2030.
According to him, a roadmap for the simultaneous elimination of route bottlenecks and the development of transport and logistics infrastructure has already been adopted to achieve this goal.
"By the end of 2025, the volume of shipments along the Trans-Caspian International Corridor increased by 62%, while container traffic increased by 2.7 times. We have set the ambitious goal of increasing the capacity of the Middle Corridor to 10 million tons by 2030," Shakkaliyev noted.
On August 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C., President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint declaration, with the participation of the President of the U.S., Donald Trump. The document provides for the commissioning of the Zangezur Corridor (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity) as part of the restoration of regional relations.
In January 2026, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Washington and presented a framework program for the implementation of the TRIPP project.
