By Alimat Aliyeva

Kazakhstan intends to increase the capacity of the TMTM transit corridors (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, Middle Corridor) and the North-South corridor, Azernews reports.

It was noted that in the first 10 months of this year, traffic along the TMTM corridor increased by 68%, reaching 3.8 million tons.

"Currently, active work is underway to increase the capacity of the TMTM and North-South transit corridors," the minister said.

He added that "due to changes in global logistics routes," the importance of the North-South corridor is growing every day.

"The capacity of the corridor is 10 million tons per year. The actual volume of cargo transported this year amounted to 1.8 million tons. Given the corridor’s potential, we plan to increase its capacity to 20 million tons," Karabayev stated.

To this end, the Minister noted, a Roadmap for the synchronized development of the corridor with Iran, Turkmenistan, and Russia was signed in July of this year. To attract more cargo traffic along this corridor, Kazakhstan has introduced special tariff discounts of 50% for transit transportation. Additionally, efforts are underway to establish a Single Logistics Operator on the eastern North-South route, similar to the United Transport and Logistics Company (UTLC).

Currently, the Kazakh and Russian sides have completed the preparatory procedures for the creation of a joint venture, and the Turkmen side’s position on participation in the project is awaited.