Elvira Kadyrova
Last week, Uzbekistan secured several agreements aimed at improving the logistics of its commodity flows towards Turkey and Europe through the Caucasus region.
The development of international transport corridors and the creation of favorable conditions for increasing transit traffic became one of the main topics of Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan intergovernmental commission session, which took place in Shusha (Azerbaijan) on 21 July 2023.
The Uzbek side expressed interest in the active use of the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway in order to increase the volume of cargo transportation between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, including transit, the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan says.
The parties also highlighted the importance of the participation of both countries in the international multimodal route Asia-Pacific countries – China – Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Azerbaijan – Georgia – Turkey – Europe.
Following the meeting, a protocol was signed, which outlined the following key areas of cooperation in the transport block:
- Continuation of cooperation to further improve the competitiveness of transport corridors in transit transport
- Taking appropriate measures to eliminate bottlenecks along the Middle Corridor
- Improving information exchange in order to ensure continuity of the supply chain
- Brining the volume of transportation of export-import cargo of Uzbekistan through Azerbaijan to 1.5 million tons in 2023.
The Azerbaijani side has also offered Uzbekistan a long-term lease of the infrastructure of the Baku International Sea Trade Port on favorable terms.
The meeting in Azerbaijan was preceded by another deal. On 19 July, in Tbilisi, the Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan Ilkham Makhkamov and the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Levan Davitashvili signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of transport.
The Memorandum provides for the following:
- construction and long-term lease of sea terminals and warehouses in the seaports of Georgia
- cooperation in the field of civil aviation
- development of road transport
- joint research and application of innovations in the field of transport and infrastructure.
According to the transport ministry of Uzbekistan, 864,000 tons of export-import cargo of Uzbekistan were transported through Georgian ports (Poti, Batumi) in 2022, which is 72% more than in 2021 (503,000 tons).
Last December, the first container train from Uzbekistan crossed the Caspian Sea to Europe. The train passed along the CASCA+ route, which is a multimodal route China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey-Europe. This is a joint initiative of the railway departments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
Now, when the map of logistics and transport routes is literally being “redrawn” due to the geopolitical situation and various competing routes are emerging, Uzbekistan is obviously aiming to build a reliable logistics chain for cargo flows, which can include both its own export goods and transit goods from China.
Here it is worth noting the role of transport infrastructure that Turkmenistan has.
The possible infrastructure links of the logistics chain promoted by Uzbekistan will naturally include in the future the Turkmen-Uzbek border trade zone, the capacities of the Turkmenbashi port, and leased terminals in the ports of Azerbaijan and Georgia. ///nCa, 24 July 2023
#Uzbekistan, #Azerbaijan, #Georgia, #transport, #connectivity, #logistics