Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Oct. 12 /Trend H.Hasanov/
Turkmenistan and Romania have reached an agreement on the establishment of a joint transport working group agreed during summit negotiations in Ashgabat, an official Turkmen source reported on Friday.
Romanian President Traian Basescu is currently in Turkmenistan on an official visit (Oct.11-12). His previous visit to Turkmenistan took place in 2009.
The expert group mentioned in the joint document signed in Ashgabat, will 'identify and recommend the best way to progress with a commodity, transport corridor from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, using the advantages of Constanta and Turkmenbashi ports'.
Talks are being formed to consider a new Eurasian transport corridor. The State Service of Turkmenistan's Maritime and River Transport is researching opportunities in freight transportation, including liquid gas to Constanta. The supply route involves the use of special containers and runs across the Caspian Sea to Baku (Azerbaijan), then by rail to Batumi or Poti (Georgia) and from there by sea to Romania.
Constanta is one of the major ports in Black Sea region, with a freight turnover of more than 80 million tons a year. The infrastructure enables reception of all types of goods, on account of special terminals for ore and coal, crude oil and petroleum products, chemicals and fertilisers, cement and building materials, grains, frozen food and oil. The port has ferries and terminals.
Turkmenbashi port is planning a major infrastructure modernisation upgrade looking at the experience of the free economic areas in UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong. Dozens of foreign companies are willing to take part in the modernisation of the Caspian port.
According to an official Turkmen source, Ashgabat and Bucharest also decided to research and take advantage of cooperation opportunities proposed by EU strategy for the Danube region with the prospect of establishing transport communication with Europe through Romania.