BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 15. The potential of the Middle Corridor could help accelerate and expand trade between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, Mirshohid Aslanov, head of Uzbekistan’s Center for Progressive Reforms (CPR), said while speaking at the presentation of the “Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Business Barometer” initiative, Trend's correspondent reports.
According to him, logistics will be one of the key areas of the joint “Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Business Barometer,” which the CPR is developing in collaboration with the CASPIA think tank. “We will examine, in particular, logistics as well as the potential of the Middle Corridor,” Aslanov said.
He noted that the development of this route could be of particular importance for expanding trade ties between Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
According to Aslanov, completing certain logistics and customs procedures can currently take weeks, which creates additional costs for businesses. “For businesses, every day is money,” he emphasized.
Aslanov believes that transit times can be significantly reduced through the digitization of procedures, the advance exchange of data, and the mutual recognition of documents.
In particular, he proposed creating a system that would allow the necessary procedures to be completed even before the cargo arrives, as well as the advance identification of reliable exporters. “All these procedures can be completed before the goods arrive here,” Aslanov said.
According to him, such a system should include permits, certificates, and other information necessary for the movement of cargo between the two countries.
M. Aslanov also noted that more efficient logistics should become part of a broader ecosystem to support small and medium-sized businesses, which are often insufficiently informed about opportunities to export to the markets of Azerbaijan and other countries in the region.
He emphasized that combining Uzbekistan’s industrial potential with Azerbaijan’s logistical capabilities could, in the long term, create conditions not only for the growth of bilateral trade but also for the entry of joint products into the markets of other countries.
