Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan mull co-op on rail transport

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan’s and Kazakhstan’s state-owned railway companies have discussed cooperation in cargo transportation during a meeting held in Baku on May 26.

bilateral cooperation during the meeting of organizations’ Chairmen and Nurlan Sauranbayev, Azerbaijan Railways’ press service reported on May 26.

During the meeting, Azerbaijan Railways Chairman Javid Gurbanov briefed the participants on the transport and logistics capabilities of Azerbaijan.

Noting the active role of Azerbaijan in the development of international transport corridors, Gurbanov stated that the strengthening of these routes will increase the transit potential of participating countries.

Furthermore, he stressed the importance of relations between the railway agencies of the two countries, noting the results of joint activities in the field of cargo transportation, and the steps to be taken in the long-term perspective of the partnership were discussed.

It was said that there is positive dynamics of volumes in the segment of transit freight transportation via the railroads of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

It should be noted that cargo transportation through the territories of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is carried out mainly from China and Kazakhstan, Georgia, Turkey, Europe and vice versa.

During the first four months of 2021, transit container shipments through Azerbaijan’s territory increased by 49 percent compared to the same period in 2020. The increase was mainly due to China's import and export operations, which increased by 2.8 times compared to the same period last year, amounting to 4,300 TEUs.

Furthermore, it was noted that the feeder line on the route Aktau Port- Baku (Alyat) Port- Baku Port, commissioned in 2019, is developing regularly. Thus, more than 5,000 TEU were transported in January-April 2021, which is by 11 percent more than during the same period of last year.

The discussion also touched upon the digitization of document flow in order to increase the volume of multimodal cargo transportations along the Trans-Caspian international transport route.

Meanwhile, Sauranbayev praised the organizations’ cooperation within the framework of international transport projects. He spoke about the demand for the International Trans-Caspian transport route, as well as the efficiency of transportation on this route.

Speaking about the prospects for joint activities, the participants stressed the importance of adopting a development strategy for the project until 2025 in order to fully use the potential of the International Trans-Caspian transport route.

Likewise, an agreement was reached to digitize the document flow along the route to increase the volume of cargo.

Additionally, the sides discussed ways to further expand cooperation between the two countries as part of an international corridor connecting Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Georgia, Turkey and European countries.