BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 4
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has expressed its commitment to cooperate with Turkmenistan in the practical use of the Lapis-Lazuli Transit, Trade & Transport Route , as well as other transport and transit corridors in the North-South and East-West directions, Trend reports with reference to Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This was stated during a videoconference between Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and Secretary General of the IRU Umberto de Pretto.
The IRU welcomes the work of Turkmenistan to build modern infrastructure and to create conditions for improving its effective functioning by joining international conventions and treaties.
In this context, the parties highly appreciated the cooperation between Turkmenistan and the IRU on the UN platform, which is reflected in the promotion of relevant documents in 2014, 2015 and 2017 on the development of transport and transit corridors.
The parties discussed the possibilities of working together to promote the initiative of Turkmenistan to ensure stable international transport during emergencies.
The sides also discussed preparations for the Ministerial Conference on Transport for Landlocked Developing Countries, scheduled to be held in Turkmenistan in 2021.
As earlier IRU told Trend, they highlighted that they are currently examining the possibility of piloting e-TIR along the Lapis-Lazuli corridor (Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey) and the Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Oman corridor.
The International Road Transport Union (IRU) and Turkmenistan have recently discussed the integrating the IRU TIR-EPD (electronic pre-declaration) module and the e-TIR module into The Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) customs system.
IRU pointed out that ASYCUDA is currently being implemented in Turkmenistan.
ASYCUDA is a computerized customs management system which covers most foreign trade procedures. The system handles manifests and customs declarations, accounting procedures, and warehousing manifest and suspense procedures. It generates detailed information about foreign trade transactions which can be used for economic analysis and planning.
“IRU recommends that the integration of the EPD and e-TIR modules are taken into account during the implementation of ASYCUDA in Turkmenistan,” added the IRU.
The implementation of EPD and e-TIR modules will facilitate the swift implementation of e-TIR, the digital TIR procedure, which is an important tool for reducing human contact at borders, noted the IRU.
The agreement on transit and transport cooperation Lapis Lazuli between Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Turkmenistan was signed on November 15, 2017, at the ministerial meeting of the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan in Ashgabat.
According to the Lapis Lazuli project, railways and highways should connect the Afghan Turgundi city of Herat province with Ashgabat, then with the Caspian Turkmenbashi port. The corridor will be extended to Baku, then through Tbilisi to Ankara with links to Poti and Batumi cities, then from Ankara to Istanbul. The project budget, which aims to facilitate transit logistics and simplify customs procedures, is estimated at $2 billion.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @JeilaAliyeva