BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 16. The countries participating in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor) project pursue the fundamental goal of transit - to strengthen their advantageous geostrategic position and role, Trend reports via international expert on Asian economies Raza Sayed.
"Evaluating all possibilities, the interested states intend to invest financial resources in further developing this corridor and expanding its port and railway infrastructure, which will positively impact the quality of services provided and reduce transportation times," Sayed noted.
He pointed out that this multimodal route covers 11,000 kilometers of railways and includes ten seaports.
The TITR begins in China at the Lianyungang port, passes through Xi'an to Urumqi, through Kazakhstan (dry ports of Khorgos and Dostyk and ports of Aktau and Kuryk), Azerbaijan (Port of Alat), Georgia (Tbilisi), and then continues through the Black Sea to Europe.
"China intends to develop its western provinces, providing them access to regional markets. Azerbaijan sees the opportunity to strengthen its transit role and become a major transportation hub. Meanwhile, Türkiye continues to expand its influence in Azerbaijan and Central Asia through the TITR.
As for Kazakhstan, it sees assistance in exporting energy resources through the Middle Corridor," the expert outlined the benefits for participating countries.
He mentioned that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are conducting extensive work on diversifying oil supplies, and the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route will certainly be useful in this regard.
"Kazakhstan's company KazMunayGas has already acquired tankers, and agreements with Azerbaijan provide access to the Baku-Supsa pipeline (the timeline is being clarified) and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC, extensively used since March 2023)," the expert emphasized.
In 2023, Kazakhstan transported around 1.4 million tons of oil through the TITR (combination of tankers and BTC), and in 2024, it plans to transit 1.7 million tons.
Sayed noted that the current capacity of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route is six million tons of various goods per year, and by 2025, the Middle Corridor could reach a level of 10 million tons per year.
The members of the TITR Association are 25 companies from 11 countries.
In 2024, the TITR project marks its 10th anniversary, but it has been especially in demand in recent years due to changes in global logistics due to geopolitical realities.
The EU is already allocating 10 billion euros to TITR participants to bring infrastructure to modern standards and is discussing another 18.5 billion euros as part of the next stage of the development of this route.