Japan Bank for International Cooperation could finance new airport in Tashkent
TASHKENT. Oct 8 (Interfax) - Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) could provide financing for Uzbekistan's new Tashkent airport and other projects, the Uzbek Transport Ministry said.
Transport Minister Ilhom Mahkamov discussed broadening cooperation on transport initiatives with a JBIC delegation led by Hiroki Sekine, senior managing executive officer and board member of the Japanese bank.
Sekine said there was growing interest among Japanese financial institutions in projects in Uzbekistan. JBIC plans to participate in financing 14 projects in the country over the next three years, two of them in the transport sector.
"The meeting focused on the status of two projects - construction of the new Tashkent airport and the supply of air traffic management systems for the Uzairnavigation Center. The sides discussed the possibility of attracting JBIC financing for both projects. The parties agreed to accelerate joint transport initiatives and continue cooperation on prospective projects," the ministry said.
Initial investment in the project to build a new international airport in Tashkent will amount to approximately $3 billion, Uzbekistan's Transport Ministry said earlier.
Uzbekistan Airports, Uzbekistan's state airport operator, signed a public-private partnership agreement in June with an international consortium to build and run a new international airport in Tashkent.
The consortium comprises UAE company Vision Invest with a 45% stake, Japan's Sojitz Corporation with 30%, the South Korean Incheon International Airport Corporation with 15% and Uzbekistan Airports with 10%.
The new airport complex will be located in the Tashkent region's O'rtachirchiq and Quyichirchiq districts, with an area of 1,310 hectares. The project will be implemented in 2026-2030, and will involve four stages.
The new airport will be part of a multimodal transport hub linked to key highways between the capital city and the country's major cities. The preparatory work has already begun.
The first stage will involve the construction of two 4-kilometer runways and a passenger terminal of 208,000 square meters. There are also plans to erect 98 aprons, a refueling complex and an air traffic control tower. After this stage is implemented, the airport will be able to receive up to 20 million passengers and 129,000 tonnes of cargo annually, and run up to 30 take-offs and landings each hour. The territory will be able to accommodate 62 aircraft at any one time.
After the site is commissioned, the management of the airport will be transferred to private partners for 35 years, approximately until 2065. In accordance with the conditions of the agreement, they be responsible for the management of the passenger terminal and the landside area and for expanding them in the future. The airport will be able to serve up to 46 million people each year in future, and the number of aprons will increase to 160.
Tashkent's existing international airport serves up to 11 million passengers per year; however, authorities estimate that it is already working at full capacity.
