Zangazur corridor to expand South Caucasus transport integration

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan’s Digital Development and Transport Minister Rahman Hummatov has said that the Zangazur corridor will expand transport integration in the South Caucasus.

He made the remarks at the 5th meeting of the transport ministers of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States (CCTS, Turkic Council) held in Hungary’s Budapest.

“The Zangazur corridor, in addition to connecting the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with the rest of Azerbaijan, will expand transport integration in the South Caucasus, as well as provide the shortest land route from Asia to Europe,” he said.

During the meeting, the deputy minister spoke about the role of the Zangazur corridor in expanding the transit potential of Azerbaijan. He also spoke about the development of transport communications in the new realities and opportunities that appeared in the region after the 44-day Patriotic War.

Hummatov briefed the participants about the measures taken by Azerbaijan to facilitate transport and transit operations along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor.

Touching on the issues of digitalization of transport and transit operations, he emphasized that in order to achieve full digitalization of corridors passing through the participating countries' territories, it is important to integrate digital platforms developed in different countries.                                                           

The ministers held discussions on the measures to be taken for facilitating the transport and transit operations along the Trans-Caspian Corridor in the post-pandemic era, as well as the agreement on international combined freight transport between the member states of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States.

The parties also considered the possibility of organizing the “Road Demonstration Tour (Road Trade Caravan)” planned to be conducted across the Trans-Caspian Corridor, the application of e-permits and e-CMR (international consignment note) between the member states, the process of creating “twinned ports” within the CCTS and other issues.

The event was attended by delegations from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Turkey and Uzbekistan.