ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 30. Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan Marat Karabayev has met with State Counselor for the Prime Minister of Romania Florin Spataru in Brussels, Trend reports.
During the meeting, the parties discussed cooperation in the fields of civil aviation and road transport, the signing of bilateral documents during the visit of the Kazakh delegation to Romania, and the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor) and TRACECA.
Karabayev invited Romanian investors to jointly implement infrastructure projects in the transport sector.
In turn, Florin Spataru expressed interest in the further development of trade and economic relations between Kazakhstan and Romania.
In addition, the Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan invited Florin Spataru and a delegation from Romania to the New Silkway Forum, which will be held in June this year in Astana.
Meanwhile, the TRACECA International Program has been operating since 1993 and aims to reduce the delivery time of goods from Asia to Europe and vice versa by 2–2.5 times compared to sea transport routes –up to 12–14 days.
Moreover, 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.
Furthermore, trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Romania amounted to $2.6 billion from January through November 2023. Exports from Kazakhstan to Romania during the above period amounted to $2.5 billion, and imports from Romania to Kazakhstan amounted to $101 million.