BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 23. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan plan to construct a new "Darbaza – Maktaaral" railway line, Trend reports via Ministry for Investment and Development of Kazakhstan.
The matter was discussed between the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan Saidikram Niyazkhojayev and Kazakhstan’s Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Marat Karabayev.
The ministry’s statement said that the construction of the new railway line with a total length of 106 kilometers will provide transport additional 10 million tons of cargo per year between the countries. The construction project will require more than $347 million.
During the meeting, the sides also discussed issues of boosting cooperation in the fields such as industry and transport, as well as the establishment of the military-industrial complex.
Following the talks, the parties agreed to accelerate the process of new railway line construction, as well as to increase flights between countries.
To date, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are implementing 42 joint projects worth $2.1 billion in the industrial field - 29 in the territory of Kazakhstan, and 13 in Uzbekistan. Furthermore, some 20 flights a week are operated between the two countries.
Meanwhile, trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan amounted to $333.5 million in January 2023, increasing by $69.7 million, compared to the same period in 2022 ($263.8 million). Kazakhstan’s imports from Uzbekistan in the reporting period made up $56.7 million, decreasing by 7.8 percent over January 2022 ($61.5 million), while exports amounted to $276.8 million.