ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 20. Kazakhstan is actively developing its railway infrastructure to increase the capacity of the International North-South Transport Corridor, said Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin during the first transport trade and export forum “North-South” in Aktau, Trend reports.
"Today, the throughput capacity of the eastern direction of the North-South transport corridor through Kazakhstan is 6 million tons. We are actively developing the railway infrastructure to increase the capacity of the eastern branch to 10 million tons per year by 2027 and to 20 million tons by 2030. For this purpose, it is planned to invest $1.9 billion," he said.
According to Zhumangarin, part of these funds is expected to be raised on preferential terms through the Eurasian Development Bank for priority integration infrastructure projects within the EAEU.
"For the modernization of sections of the railways Orsk-Kandyagash-Makat-Beineu-Bolashak and Iletsk-1-Aktobe," he noted.
The forum is attended by over 440 participants from 12 countries, representatives of the Economic Cooperation Organization, and the Eurasian Economic Commission.
The forum serves as a platform for discussion of topical issues related to the development of railroads, highways, and ports with the participation of major players in the North-South transport corridor.
To note, the North-South International Transport Corridor is a 7,200 km multimodal route that connects St. Petersburg with the ports of Iran and India.
It is an alternative to the sea route connecting Europe, the Persian Gulf countries, and the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal.
The western and eastern branches of the ITC pass through Iran; the western branch provides for transportation through Iran by road via Rasht, and the eastern branch by rail. The final point in Iran is the port of Bandar Abbas, from which cargo can be delivered to India by sea. The western branch also passes through Azerbaijan, while the eastern branch passes through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.