BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 2. To maximize the potential of the Middle Corridor and increase its capacity, strategic focus must shift towards the innovative realm of soft solutions, which usually involve non-physical measures to address a problem, Umberto de Pretto, Secretary-General of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), told Trend.
"To deal with increased traffic at congested border crossings, both hard and soft solutions are required. To fully realize the Middle Corridor's potential and increase its capacity, we must shift our strategic focus to creative soft solutions that assist trade and travel. For example, building infrastructure along the crowded Sarp-Sarpi border between Georgia and Turkey is nearly impossible due to the presence of mountains on one side and water on the other. Soft solutions, especially those focused on digital operations, are the only realistic path ahead," he explained.
De Pretto emphasized that harmonized tools, specifically TIR and CMR, already cover all countries along the Middle Corridor. The emphasis should be on enhancing these tools through digitalization, rather than developing entirely new solutions.
He pointed out that fragmented approaches lacking a universally recognized framework tend to be less effective and eventually reach their limits.
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 begins in China and traverses Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It then passes through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye before reaching Europe.