Azernews.Az

Kazakhstan wants to join the intergovernmental dry ports agreement of the member states of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Kazakh Investment and Development Ministry reported.

"This will allow increasing the volume of international cargo transportations, as well as reduce the costs and delays at border crossings," the message said.

The decision to prepare the agreement on dry ports was approved at the 69th session of the ESCAP member states.

The agreement is designed to strengthen the regional cooperation between the countries in terms of transport and logistics system.

Under the document, the parties create institutional, administrative and legal mechanisms for a smooth operation of dry ports. This, in turn, will contribute to increasing the volume of international traffic.

Currently, the draft document is being coordinated with the relevant state authorities. It is planned that the agreement will be signed before late 2014.

The dry ports functions include processing, storage, inspection of transported goods, as well as customs control.

Kazakhstan has two dry ports - a transport and logistics center in Aktobe and the Damu industrial and logistics center in Almaty.

Among the potential dry ports there are Hitec Logistics, the International Center of Boundary Cooperation Khorgos, and the Terminal Tau, located in Almaty region.