Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are interested in promoting the eastern section of the North-South International Transport Corridor.
This statement was made following a meeting between Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin and Mammetkhan Chakyev, Director General of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers, Trend reported.
The participants of the meeting also discussed the construction of the Turgundi-Herat railway in Afghanistan and increasing the flow of goods to China via Turgundi.
The two sides emphasised their joint efforts to create competitive tariff conditions for the joint China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran corridors and the North-South route.
Both countries are actively co-operating to develop the eastern section of the corridor, which passes through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and facilitates the transit of goods to Pakistan and onwards to India.
In July 2024, Kazakhstan, Russia, Iran and Turkmenistan signed a roadmap for the synchronised development of the North-South corridor. It was also decided to use the western branch of the Trans-Afghan railway.
The North-South International Transport Corridor is a 7,200-kilometre multimodal route connecting St Petersburg with the ports of Iran and India. It offers an alternative to the sea route connecting Europe to the countries of the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal.
The western and eastern branches of the corridor pass through Iran: the western branch uses road transport via Rasht and the eastern branch uses rail transport. The final destination in Iran is the port of Bandar Abbas, from where cargoes can be sent by sea to India. The western branch also passes through Azerbaijan, while the eastern branch passes through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. https://www.trend.az/casia/kazakhstan/3932875.html
