Turkmenistan supports transit, transport corridors
By Aynur Jafarova
The environmentally sustainable, safe, as well as public
transport and transit corridors are important for Turkmenistan,
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said.
He made the statement while speaking about the adoption of a
resolution by the UN General Assembly recently initiated by
Turkmenistan and called “The role of transport and transit
corridors in ensuring international cooperation for sustainable
development.”
"Turkmenistan, relying upon its neutral status, principles of
maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic
development, improving public well-being and strengthening the
international cooperation, has always stressed the importance of
environmentally sustainable, safe, as well as public transport and
transit corridors,” the president noted.
"I sincerely thank the leadership of the United Nations, as well as
the leaders of all countries, which acted as co-sponsors, for their
support in promoting the initiative of Turkmenistan!”
Berdymukhamedov added.
In September 2014, Ashgabat hosted an appropriate international
high-level conference. Ashgabat Declaration was adopted during the
conference.
The UN resolution, adopted in December 2014, calls upon the member
states and international and regional organizations to contribute
to the expansion of cooperation between the parties involved in the
creation and operation of international transport corridors, lays
the foundation of formation of transport networks, combining road,
rail, sea and air routes through intermodal logistics centers and
land ports.
The UN resolution, which provides for the mobilization of financial
and technical resources from the international monetary and
financial institutions, reflected the key elements of the Ashgabat
Declaration.
Currently, the creation of favorable conditions for cargo, the
smooth functioning of international transport and transit corridors
are among the key factors in promoting sustainable economic
development in the global dimension.
Turkmenistan, occupying a favorable geographical position, recently
strengthened its position of an important transit and transport hub
of regional and continental importance. The commissioning of a new
Uzen-Gyzylgaya-Bereket-Etrek-Gorgan (Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran)
railway line in early December 2014 can be named among the latest
such achievements.
The aim of this international transport corridor North-South is to
provide backhaul cooperation of the North Europe countries and
Russia with the countries of the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and
South-East Asia through Iran. The international transport corridor
North-South, which is an alternative to the sea route through the
Suez Canal, primarily deals with container cargo traffic.