BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 29. Developing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor) as a viable route will require both national and regional reforms, Amélie Schurich Rey, Economist and Policy Analyst, Eurasia Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Directorate for Global Relations and Cooperation, told Trend.
"Implementing the potential of the TITR as a regional trade route will require substantial investment in transport infrastructure and better “soft” trade facilitation arrangements. If transit through the Caspian littoral countries has more than doubled since February 2022, the lack of adequate road, rail, and maritime infrastructure, as well as trade facilitation agreements along the route, has led to severe port and border point congestion. Developing the TITR as a viable route will require national and regional reforms in relation to regional integration, infrastructure, trade facilitation, and supranational coordination," she said.
An analyst noted that given sufficient investment and smoother procedures to reduce transport costs, the TITR could become an attractive complementary trade route linking Kazakhstan to Europe, one of its main trading partners, and also boosting regional trade.
"However, if the TITR can bring a substantive increase in regional trade, at the international level, it will remain an alternative trade route. The TITR’s geography requires more multi-modal switches between road, rail, and maritime transport, as well as more border crossings, than the Northern Corridor. Even if the route could, in the long run, be shortened, it suffers from a lack of attractiveness for the private sector. In addition, with its current capacity, the TITR can only absorb around 5 percent of the 100 million metric tons that were carried through the Northern Route, and this share is not expected to grow beyond 11 percent by 2030. However, at the regional level, the development of the route could better integrate the economies of Central Asia and the Caucasus and contribute to the further development of local growth poles," she noted.
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.