2024-08-15 00:51:47
The Middle Corridor is one of the most important areas of interaction between Azerbaijan and the Central Asian countries. This was stated by President Ilham Aliyev at a recent meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia and the Republic of Azerbaijan in Astana. The head of state noted that the increase in the capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway from 1 million to 5 million tons, measures to increase the annual capacity of the Alat International Trade Port from 15 million to 25 million tons, orders for new ships for the Azerbaijani merchant fleet in the Caspian Sea, as well as infrastructure projects implemented in the Central Asian countries, further increase the practical significance of the Middle Corridor.
The Middle Corridor is a special item on the agenda of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan – Zamir Karazhanov for Day.Az
At the same meeting, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized that his country, together with its partners, is actively developing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, the volume of transportation along which can be increased fivefold in the medium term. The region has every opportunity to become one of the most important transport, logistics and transit hubs on the planet. New opportunities, according to him, are opening up in connection with the development of Kazakhstan’s maritime infrastructure – the ports of Aktau and Kuryk, through which increasing volumes of cargo from China, Central Asian countries to the South Caucasus, Turkey and further to Europe pass.
The words of the leaders of the two countries are confirmed by statistics. According to the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, the volume of cargo transportation along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, Middle Corridor) in January-July 2024 increased by 62 percent and amounted to 2.5 million tons. The Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan predicts an increase in transportation along the TITR in 2024 to 4.2 million tons.
“Cargo transportation along the Middle Corridor has increased by 62 percent. I think this is not the limit. The rapid growth is connected with the consequences of those complex geopolitical processes that are going on around our region. TMTM is in demand today more than ever,” said transport and logistics expert Rauf Agamirzayev in an interview with Day.Az.
At the moment, there are some infrastructure solutions for the Middle Corridor that are emerging during the construction process, our interlocutor noted. They are designed for both the medium and long term. In the medium term, they plan to increase the capacity of the Kazakh ports of Kuryk and Aktau, as well as the Azerbaijani port of Alyat by 2030. Georgia, in turn, will build a new deep-water port on the Black Sea, which will allow it to receive more cargo heading towards the West.
“According to the latest statistics, the volume of cargo transportation via TMTM has increased to 2.5 million tons. And this is only the figure for the first half of the year. By the end of the year, growth to 4 million or more tons of cargo is expected. If we talk about the overall potential of TMTM, it is much higher. I think there will be positive dynamics because there is interest. It is important that this is the interest of not only the participating countries, but also global players such as China, the United States, and the European Union,” the expert noted.
According to Agamirzayev, the development of the corridor is connected with the topic of diversification of logistics routes. In parallel with the growth of the importance of the route, the risks also increase, which can be very different – depending on the scenarios. After the liberation of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, Azerbaijan is actively building railways and highways, new airports on its territory.
Another logistics corridor will pass through Azerbaijan – LAYOUT from a logistics expert
“Just as we have mapped out routes on land and at sea, we also give our partners the opportunity to use our airspace. This is done in order to diversify routes and reduce risks. That is, Azerbaijan is drawing all types of communication to itself. In recent years, Azerbaijan has diversified its port infrastructure. So far, we have two ports involved in the TITR – Alyatsky and Govsaninsky, but in the future, I think, the deep-water port of Zira will also be involved, where STS berthing cranes for handling containers were installed last month, and a railway line was connected to the general network.
All this gives Azerbaijan the opportunity not to depend on one road or one port. Our task is to accept as much cargo as possible and redirect it to another direction,” our interlocutor said.
The expert recalled that sometimes problems are created by nature itself. In this case, we are talking about the shallowing of the Caspian Sea. Lowering the sea level requires dredging. Such work is already being carried out in the ports of Kazakhstan. Work is already underway in the port of Aktau. Most likely, the navigation channel will also be deepened. Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are planning to carry out the same work.
Speaking about forecasts, according to the expert, it is worth recalling some figures.
“The peak of freight transportation for Azerbaijan Railways was in 1988. At that time, 100 million tons of freight were transported via Azerbaijan Railways. That is, we have room to grow. Additional volumes mean additional investments, additional rolling stock, additional jobs, new infrastructure, including service infrastructure, which will be created in a multi-effect mode. Thus, Azerbaijan will receive dividends not only as a transit country, increasing its importance on the map of the region and the world, but also as a freight carrier. In addition, in the future, it will have an extensive network of logistics chains, which will certainly stimulate the attraction of production to our region, bringing additional profits,” said Rauf Agamirzayev.
Leila Tariverdieva