BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 31. Intermodal transport along the Middle Corridor has proven to be highly efficient, Umberto de Pretto, Secretary-General of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), told Trend.
"The Middle Corridor relies heavily on intermodality. For example, multimodal shipping from Lianyungang (China) via Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to Türkiye or EU countries takes 13 to 23 days. In contrast, the sea trip via the Suez Canal takes 35-45 days," he said.
De Pretto added that, unfortunately, border crossings struggle to cope with these growing volumes. Drivers spend days, and sometimes weeks, depending on the season and crossing point at borders. There are tools, such as TIR, to streamline border crossings; governments just need to act and implement these tried-and-tested trade facilitation instruments.
Regarding border crossings, it was highlighted that Caspian Sea crossings lead to unpredictable waiting times. There is a need for investments in both physical infrastructure and procedural improvements to manage the growing traffic at already congested border crossings.
According to the IRU Secretary-General, freight volumes transported from China to Europe along the Middle Corridor increased by 84 percent from January through August 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, reaching over 1.6 million tons. Transit freight volumes are anticipated to increase by at least fivefold in the future.
The Middle Corridor 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.