Conference on Trans-Caspian transport corridor held in Tashkent

A conference on the Trans-Caspian transport corridor was held in Tashkent. The second National Conference on the Trans-Caspian transport corridor, organized by the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan and representatives of the European Commission, took place in Tashkent. This was reported by the participants of the event.

The forum was held as part of the EU-funded Coordination Platform of the Global Gateway strategy, which brings together five Central Asian states, the EU, international financial institutions, and development partners. The participants discussed attracting investments, modernizing roads and railways, harmonizing customs procedures, and switching to electronic document management.

The Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan, Ilhom Makhkamov, said that out of 27 transport and logistics centers operating in the country, 24 are included in the list of "dry ports" of international importance under the UN ESCAP agreement. He also recalled the introduction of 70% discounts on rail transportation along the multimodal CASCA+ route and the promotion of such projects as the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan line and the creation of its own terminal in Georgian ports.

The Director of the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, Peteris Ustubs, emphasized the need to consider the route as a single system that includes the states of Central Asia and the South Caucasus. According to him, the main factors of the corridor's attractiveness remain the elimination of barriers, as well as the predictability of delivery times and conditions.