Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Sept. 1
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:
Ashgabat will host an international high-level conference on the role of transport and transit corridors to ensure international cooperation and sustainable development on September 3-4, 2014, the Turkmen government said Sept. 1.
The Turkmen foreign ministry and the road transport ministry are the organizers. The UN European Economic Commission, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the Intergovernmental Commission on Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) will assist in holding the conference.
The initiative of holding this event was voiced by the Turkmen leadership during one of the sessions of the UN General Assembly.
Turkmenistan is the initiator of a number of large regional and continental projects in this important area, including the creation of "North-South" transit and transport corridor, designed to be a reliable "bridge" between Europe and Asia, ensuring convenient and economic transportation of goods.
"As it is known, our country has fully complied with its international obligations for the construction of the Turkmen section of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway," Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary reported. "It is an important part of this transport corridor."
Turkmenistan borders with Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan on shore, but with Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran in the Caspian Sea. The regional transport projects have been recently intensified. The massive reconstruction of the sea port of Turkmenbashi has started. The highways are being modernized.
A project was launched to connect the railways in the Kazakh-Turkmen border in May 2014. In general, two neighboring countries are implementing the "North-South" project with Iran. A trilateral inter-state agreement was signed in 2007. The rail networks of Iran and Turkmenistan are expected to be connected by late 2014.
This regional project will open a way for European and Asian countries to Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. A similar opportunity will appear for the transit of goods from South and South-East Asia, from the shores of the Indian Ocean to the North and Eastern Europe - through Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia.
Construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railway has been recently launched. And China, Kyrgyzstan and Iran may join it.