Kazakhstan’s proposal on transcontinental route, new step to be Silk Road's active part
By Aynur Karimova
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's recent proposal to establish a new high-speed multi-modal transport route, which will link the Asian and European countries, is a new step taken by Astana to play an active role in the grand Silk Road project and to become a main transit country linking Far East countries to Europe.
"I propose to establish a new high-speed multi-modal transport route, Eurasian transcontinental corridor, which will run through the whole territory of our country, and allow the unhindered transportation of goods from Asia to Europe and vice versa," said Nazarbayev at the 8th Astana Economic Forum last week.
Landlocked Kazakhstan, which is located in the heart of Eurasia with no access to the world oceans, deserves to be part of the Silk Road project, initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 with an aim to connect China with Europe and strengthen cooperation between Asia and Africa.
The volume of trade between China and Europe, which today amounts to around $600 billion, is forecasted to exceed 170 million tons, or $800 billion by 2020. Goods from China are transported either by expensive air route, or by long sea route.
If a new transit route from China to Europe via Central Asia and the Caucasus is established, cargoes will be delivered to European consumers by a shorter, faster and cheaper route.
Today Kazakhstan wants to attract the maximum amount of this trade via land route through its own territory. With its advantageous geographic position, a crossroad in between Europe and Asia, Kazakhstan intends to be part of a new multibillion-dollar Silk Road project.
Kazakhstan has already started works towards the realization of this idea. Kazakhstan is taking measures to develop its transportation infrastructure. The government has set a goal to implement projects aimed at the removal of all infrastructural restrictions in order to increase the country’s capabilities to offer competitive services and increase the volume of shipments.
The new economic policy of Kazakhstan also prioritizes the development of transport infrastructure and logistics. In 2014, the state already provided more than $2.5 billion, and between 2015 and 2017 it will allocate $3 billion annually from the National Fund.
The country is also building a dry port and rail yard at Khorgos, in the desert on its eastern border with China. The country has formed 100 container trains from China’s Lianyungang Port to Central Asia this year.
Overall, the government plans to invest over $20 billion by 2020 in the development of the transport industry to become the main transit country between the booming Chinese market and Europe and to turn Kazakhstan into a logistics and transit hub in the Eurasian continent.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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