BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 21. The role of the Central Asia region in promoting transcontinental trade is substantially growing, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at the 4th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia on July 21, Trend reports.
According to him, it's necessary to enhance the region's transport connectivity and subsequently improve its transit conditions.
“Central Asia is located at the nexus of Russia, China, South Asia, the Middle East, and the South Caucasus. The region's role in advancing transcontinental trade is rapidly increasing in the new geopolitical realities. Thus, Kazakhstan keeps contributing to the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR),” he said.
Tokayev stressed that container transport along the mentioned corridor has increased by almost 3 times, reaching 25,000 since 2017.
“Furthermore, Kazakhstan is ready to take part in the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway line. In particular, the country can ensure the uninterrupted supply of materials for the superstructure of the railway tracks, as well as can provide rolling stock. We urge our partners to make greater use of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, which is the shortest route between East Asia and the Persian Gulf states,” the president added.