BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22. The World Bank (WB) has published 10 priority actions on its website that could triple trade along the Middle Corridor by 2030, Trend reports.
"The Middle Corridor (a network of road, rail, and sea routes connecting markets in China and Europe via Central Asia and the Caucasus) can be an engine of growth. Improvements in strengthening the corridor will help the economy prosper by boosting trade, creating jobs, and encouraging entrepreneurship. A combination of investments (to modernize railroads, intermodal, and maritime facilities) and the implementation of measures to improve the efficiency of this route could halve travel time along this corridor and triple trade flows by 2030," the report of the World Bank notes.
The Bank emphasizes that it is working with governments and international organizations to realize the potential of this Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (TITR) to stimulate trade and economic growth in the region and has decided to share 10 critical actions that can address the most pressing short-term challenges in developing this route:
1) We need to create a rail bypass around Almaty and replace diesel freight trains with electric trains;
2) Improve rail connections between the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan section to speed up freight transportation;
3) Aktau Port needs to increase the capacity of berths to improve the efficiency of this most important port. More cranes for each type of cargo are also needed.
4) The WB points to the lack of rolling stock, especially locomotives in Georgia, which limits the transit potential of the Middle Corridor and leads to long delivery times.
"Increasing the number of rolling stocks will improve the capacity and efficiency of the corridor," the report emphasizes.
5) The WB is waiting for the improvement of the railway connection "Akhalkalaki (Georgia)-Georgian-Turkish border" and the expansion of Akhalkalaki railway station.
"As Akhalkalaki station is a gauge change point, it is a bottleneck for the construction of a new line from it to Sivas in Türkiye. By making the rail line on the Akhalkalaki-Turkey border double gauge and allowing the change of gauge to take place in Georgia or Türkiye, it will increase the operational flexibility of the TİTR," the WB experts believe.
They also urge the construction of a multimodal container terminal or sorting station in Akhalkalaki.
6) The Georgian port of Poti reached its design capacity in 2023. The WB expects that the expansion of Poti's maritime transshipment capacity and improved rail connections within Georgia will enable the port to accommodate more container ships and reduce container transportation time.
7) The Sivas-Kars-Georgia border railway line needs accelerated modernization as it is the most relevant bottleneck of railway infrastructure in the Middle Corridor.
8) The WB believes that the development of a land rail link with higher capacity (in particular Baku-Tbilisi-Kars) is likely to prevent the fact that the sea passage through Istanbul and the Bosporus was the bottleneck of the TITR and influenced the decreasing competitiveness of the Turkish branch of the Middle Corridor.
9) World Bank experts believe investments are needed to improve port and rail connections in Romania and Bulgaria. This could help strengthen domestic and cross-border links in the two countries, especially to and from Central Europe, and would positively impact the development of the TITR.
10) Within the Middle Corridor, it is important to improve trade facilitation, border management, and service delivery.
"Currently, customs and border management are insufficiently digitized, which limits effective information sharing. There is also a lack of experience in providing coordinated, planned, and time-bound services," the report of WB opined.
The Middle Corridor is a transportation and trade route that connects Asia and Europe, passing through several countries in the region. It is an alternative route to the traditional Northern Corridor and Southern Corridor.
The route starts in China and crosses Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It then passes through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye before reaching Europe.
The Middle Corridor offers a land route that connects the eastern parts of Asia, including China, with Europe, bypassing the longer maritime routes.
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