BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 13
By Sadraddin Aghjayev - Trend:
Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission (PS IGC) TRACECA works on harmonizing cargo shipments of various modalities (modes of transport and the number of companies involved in transportation of one consignment), PS IGC’s Permanent Representative (National Secretary) Rufat Bayramov told Trend.
According to Bayramov, restoration of supply chains within the TRACECA corridor, addressing of any problems and closing of the gaps are continuous processes.
"Today our goal and task is to simplify the process of trade and transportation between the countries of Europe, the Caucasus and Asia," he said.
Different procedures and requirements for the passage of goods across the borders of the TRACECA member countries during a pandemic are the main gap in the activities of the Europe-Caucasus-Asia corridor, the national secretary noted.
“In order to solve this problem, nearly a month after WHO announced the coronavirus pandemic, the PS IGC TRACECA developed a review and recommendations for harmonizing border crossing procedures,” he reminded. “All these recommendations were presented and applied by all countries participating in the corridor.” “Freight traffic between TRACECA countries last year amounted to roughly 58 million tons. About 70 percent of the cargo fell on petrochemicals, "Bayramov said.
He added that the TRACECA corridor is aimed at becoming a bridge between Europe and Asia, the economies of China and Europe, and the Permanent Secretariat focuses on containerization, the use of digital technologies, the simplification and acceleration of border crossing processes.
"It’s very important to understand that the geography of our corridor is very wide (the length of TRACECA is about 5,000-6,000 kilometers) and in some areas the processes are slowed down due to natural factors. For example, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have complex road infrastructure due to the mountains. In the Caspian countries, sea transportation is sometimes delayed due to unfavorable weather conditions,” Bayramov said.
“The more we harmonize the work of various modalities, the more services will be provided in the transport corridor, and the faster the passage of goods will be ensured," he stressed.
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