BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 20. The North-South transport corridor will eventually be able to move up to 30 million tons of freight each year, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova told Trend.
"In terms of transport issues, the focus is on the prospects for the development of successfully functioning international trade routes, such as the North-South, which include the systematic construction of highways," she said.
As Zakharova noted, due to the multiplicity of the corresponding infrastructure, this process has a positive impact simultaneously on the economic, social, and environmental aspects of both individual regions and Russia and Kazakhstan as a whole.
Speaking about the participation of some countries in the region, including Kazakhstan, in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR or Middle Corridor), Maria Zakharova noted that here the Russian position is clear: each country has the right to independently decide which project to join based on its own interests.
The foundation of the North-South Transport Corridor was laid on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000. Azerbaijan joined this agreement in 2005.
In total, 13 countries have ratified the agreement (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Armenia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Sultanate of Oman, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Türkiye and Ukraine).
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.