Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China sign agreement to build international railway

SAMARKAND. Sept 16 (Interfax) - The transport ministries of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and China's National Development and Reform Commission have signed a trilateral agreement to cooperate on a project to build a railway between the three countries, Uzbekistan's Transport Ministry said.

The agreement calls for completing all work on the feasibility study for the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway on the territory of Kyrgyzstan in the first half of 2023. The countries also approved the procedure for financing and distribution of costs for the feasibility study.

The presidents of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Sadyr Japarov discussed the importance of starting construction of the railway as soon as possible at a meeting in Samarkand on Thursday, the Uzbek leader's press service said.

"A particular attention was paid to the importance of the early start of the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and the Kambarata HPP-1, which will contribute to the development of the entire Central Asian Region," the press release said.

The construction of the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway has been discussed since the early 2000s, and negotiations entered the active phase in 2017-2018.

Kyrgyzstan wants the project to include two transfer stations on its territory, but China is insisting on a direct route without stops in Kyrgyzstan. The railway would create a new route for freight shipments to Eastern Europe through the Trans-Caucasus corridor and reduce the time it takes to deliver freight from China and Central Asia to the European Union and the Middle East.