Measures to develop the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route were considered at the meeting of Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan chaired by the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov.
The meeting participants discussed the measures for further modernization of the railway infrastructure of Kazakhstan, renewal of the rolling stock fleet, expansion of the merchant fleet and capacities of the ports of Aktau and Kuryk, according to the press release of the Republic’s Government.
In particular, it is planned to create a container hub in the port of Aktau, to renew the fleet of transshipment equipment and to restore oil loading berths, and to build a new berth in the port of Kuryk and to launch a multifunctional and grain terminals. It is also expected that 10 oil barges, 8 ferries, 6 tankers and a container carrier will start operating in the Caspian Sea by 2030.
At the meeting, it was noted that as a result of active work on the Kazakhstan section of the route, the transit time of goods passing through the territory of the republic, compared to last year, has decreased by half: from 12 to 6 days. However, this figure is planned to reach 5 days by the end of 2023.
In general, the delivery time of cargo from China to the ports on the Black Sea in the framework of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route has already decreased from 38-53 to 19-23 days, and at the end of this year it must reach 14-18 days. Such progress became possible due to the joint work of the participating countries to eliminate bottlenecks on the route, introduction of through tariffs and implementation of other measures.
In addition, the meeting considered the issue of preparing an agreement between Kazakhstan and China on the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which provides for simplification of customs procedures and approval of guaranteed traffic volumes on the route.
The Prime Minister noted the need to accelerate the approval procedures of this document by responsible government agencies of Kazakhstan for its further elaboration at the interstate level.