Uzbekistan planning transport corridor via Afghanistan with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan

TASHKENT. April 25 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan's Transport Ministry has said that there were talks on advancing the Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan multimodal transport corridor at the recent meeting of the respective countries' transport ministers.

"Participants at the meeting discussed connecting Central Asian and countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with South Asian countries via Uzbekistan by developing a multimodal transport corridor, aiming to enhance our country's transit potential," the ministry said.

A road map signed in Termez outlines plans for boosting freight transportation, including analyzing transit cargo, digitizing documents, and streamlining processes.

Since the Uzbekistan-Pakistan transit trade agreement in 2021, cargo transport via Afghanistan has surged, reaching 675,000 tonnes in 2022 and nearly one million tonnes in 2023. Uzbekistan aims to surpass the achieved freight performance in 2024.

In November 2023, a memorandum for the corridor's establishment was signed in Tashkent during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) transport forum of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Kz cr ca es