Ashgabat, 30 November 2023 (TDI): Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have agreed to collaborate on the construction of the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran corridor.
The agreement was made during the inaugural meeting of the Kazakh-Turkmen joint working group to strengthen transport, transit, and logistics development, which was held in Ashgabat from 26-27 November.
The discussion was jointly presided over by Talgat Lastayev, Vice Minister of Transport of the &Republic of Kazakhstan, and Batyr Annayev, Deputy Director General of Turkmenistan’s Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers.
Both sides reviewed cooperative concerns in the fields of transportation, transit, and logistics. The Working Group praised the coordinated effort to develop a flexible competitive pricing strategy in the sector of railway connectivity.
A contract and a memorandum of understanding on transport linkage were signed by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport and Turkmenistan’s Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers.
The document calls for the two countries’ partnership in rail and maritime transport to be extended. It highlights plans to enhance the flow of traffic between the two countries’ borders, including the establishment of favorable tariff situations.
In addition, the enactment of joint steps to align the development of infrastructure, and the implementation of digital technologies for the reciprocal sharing of data has been committed by the two parties.
Uzen (Kazakhstan) – Gyzylgaya – Bereket – Etrek (Turkmenistan) – Gorgan (Iran) railway route is a crucial link in Eurasia’s logistical and transportation plans, facilitating cargo passage to the Middle East.
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At the 17th meeting of the bilateral Turkmen-Iranian Commission on Economic Cooperation, Turkmenistan suggested bolstering transport via the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran transport and transit corridor. The conversation emphasized the corridor’s great efficiency in terms of reducing commute time.
The decision to further build the CKTI corridor by improving its value is reflected in the joint declaration of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, which was endorsed in October last year during the head of Turkmenistan’s state visit to Astana.
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