BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 6
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
Countries across Central Asia & South Caucasus are highly dependent on road-borne commerce and have stepped up there in investments in road infrastructure in recent years, as part of their aspirations to become regional transit hubs, the representative of International Road Federation (IRF) told Trend.
The representative noted that for some countries, this trend has yielded remarkable results.
“Azerbaijan spent over US$ 1 billion on new road construction projects in 2019, and has achieved one of the top regional scores in the overall quality of its road infrastructure, according to the World Economic Forum,” added IRF.
In terms of COVID-19 impact, IRF noted that many infrastructure projects have been stalled, at least temporarily, while others have seen their economic viability questioned due to lower traffic and toll revenue forecasts.
“This new set of constraints suggest that the region’s transport agencies need to explore opportunities for intermodal transport services supported by robust telematics platforms,” IRF said, adding that Increasingly, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) will be key to the region’s economic competitiveness, alongside traditional infrastructure investments.
The representative pointed out that to mitigate the spread of the virus, countries across the region began imposing unilateral measures to curb international freight as February 2020 (when Georgia canceled freight permits from Italy and Iran).
The resulting disruptions to the region’s supply chain have exposed vulnerabilities in regional coordination mechanisms, but also led to the introduction of simplified customs processes as well as “green corridors” for the transit of essential goods, he added.
“Some of these measures will hopefully be preserved, even when the health concerns are lifted, which in turn would open up the welcome prospect of higher levels of intra-regional trade,” highlighted IRF.
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