BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor has become a central artery in the rapid economic growth of Central Asia, said Andi Aranitasi, Director for Uzbekistan at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Trend reports.
Speaking at the launch of the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Aranitasi highlighted how the corridor’s transformation reflects the region’s growing importance in global trade networks.
"If you look along the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, container movement has doubled in terms of capacity from 2021 to 2024," Aranitasi said, describing the surge in demand for logistics, warehousing, and infrastructure. The increased traffic is being driven by rerouted trade flows, especially from the Russian Federation, which have redirected goods through Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Georgia.
"These countries have become critical intermediaries," he noted, pointing to the rising volume of goods moving through the region - from transport equipment and machinery to manufactured products.
Aranitasi linked this shift to broader geopolitical changes and the exit of major international brands from Russia. "This has allowed certain countries on the periphery to ramp up production of local products that are export-driven," he said. He cited Kyrgyzstan as a case in point, where textile exports to Russia tripled and now make up nearly 45% of the country’s total exports.
The corridor’s growth has also sparked investment in key supporting sectors. "There is a need and an upcoming wave of significant investments in warehousing, logistics, and transportation," he said, stressing that the region’s infrastructure must keep pace with the volume of trade it is now handling.
However, Aranitasi warned that the recent trade boom may not be sustainable in the long run. "It doubled in 2023 compared to 2022, but then it has sort of leveled out," he explained. While the surge has given the region a short-term boost, longer-term growth will require continued diversification and infrastructure development.