Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey Accept Road Map of Trans-Caspian Corridor
On November 25, the "Road Map of the Trans-Caspian Corridor" was adopted after the meeting of the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey in Aktau, the Press Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan reported.
The document stated that the implementation of the agreements will increase the output capacity of the Trans-Caspian Corridor from the current 1.5 million tons to 10 million tons per year by 2025. The parties discussed and agreed on measures for the accelerated development of international transport routes and strengthening cooperation in the Caspian-Black Sea region. The participants noted the unity of approaches to the main directions of the development of transport potential. They confirmed the mutual interest in intensifying direct contacts at the governmental level.
Mukhtar Tleuberdi, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan and Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced the approach of the Kazakh side to developing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and the Middle Corridor. "Kazakhstan is committed to constructive interaction and open dialogue for the full disclosure of the transit-transport potential of the entire Caspian region," the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan said.
Kairbek Uskenbayev, the Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan, drew the participants' attention to the necessity of making concrete decisions regarding the future development of the Trans-Caspian Corridor. According to him, cargo transportation along the corridor has increased many times. "During the first ten months of the current year, about 1.5 million tons of cargo were transported on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route through Aktau and Kurik seaports, which is twice as much as last year," he noted.
TRACECA (Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia) is a special project within the framework of technical assistance provided to the European-Caucasus-Asia Transport Corridor-Commonwealth of Independent States (TASIS). It is implemented with the support of the European Union. The project was adopted at the conference in Brussels in May 1993 with the participation of 8 countries (5 Central Asian, Kazakhstan, and 3 Caucasian republics).