BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 12
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
The possibility of joining the Lapis-Lazuli Transit, Trade & Transport Route to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being considered, Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan Mekan Ishanguliyev told Trend.
The ambassador noted that the connection of the Lapis Lazuli Corridor with the Baku-Kars railway will ensure the transportation of goods through Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to 50-60 countries, including the whole of Europe and most of the countries of North Africa.
During the trilateral meeting between the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, held on July 2, 2020, the president of Turkmenistan proposed to create a Single Logistics Center based on the agreement on the Lapis Lazuli Transport Corridor, signed in Ashgabat on November 15, 2017, added the ambassador.
"As a first step for the practical implementation of this initiative, it was proposed to create structures that coordinate logistics activities in the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan trilateral format," the ambassador said.
The report noted that in general, the Lapis Lazuli transport corridor will allow the participating countries to diversify their access to regional and continental trade markets, which will directly contribute to the strengthening of national economies, the expansion of trade and economic ties and the increase in trade turnover between the states of Central and South Asia and Europe.
The ambassador added that one of the key elements of the "Lapis Lazuli" corridor was the Azerbaijan's Alat seaport and Turkmenistan’s Turkmenbashi International Seaport.
"The project is intended to contribute to the economic development of Afghanistan by including Afghanistan in the network of international transport corridors connecting Kabul with the countries of the Caspian Sea and Europe, which will significantly increase the economic integration of the region and increase trade volumes.»
Lapis Lazuli is one of the strategically significant infrastructure projects implemented by Turkmenistan together with its nearest neighbors, said the ambassador.
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