This agreement, inked on July 19, 2024, outlines the synchronized development of the eastern route of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for 2024-2025
Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Russia signed a roadmap for the synchronous development of the potential of the eastern route of the North-South Transport Corridor for the period 2024-2025, according to the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan.
Implementation of this document by 2027 will increase the capacity of the corridor to 15 million tons per year and by 2030 to 20 million tons.
The signing ceremony took place during the inaugural North-South Transport and Export Forum, organized by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport. This event has drawn over 440 delegates from 12 countries, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Russia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, UAE, Iran, Iraq, Oman, and Uzbekistan. Representatives from the Economic Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Commission are also in attendance.
“Kazakhstan intends to continue its active participation in the development of the eastern route of the North-South transport corridor, which has the highest potential for cargo traffic growth until 2030 and appears to be the safest option for the shortest transit route to the Indian Ocean. Therefore, it is necessary to start the practical implementation of the Roadmap being signed today for the synchronous development of the potential of the eastern route of the North-South transport corridor passing through the territories of Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran,” said Marat Karabayev, minister of transport of Kazakhstan.
What is the The North-South corridor?
The International North–South Transport Corridor is a 7,200-km long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.
The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, etc. Dry runs of two routes were conducted in 2014, the first was Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas and the second was Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali. The objective of the study was to identify and address key bottlenecks. The results showed transport costs were reduced by "$2,500 per 15 tons of cargo". Other routes under consideration include via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
This will also synchronize with the Ashgabat agreement, a Multimodal transport agreement signed by India (2018), Oman (2011), Iran (2011), Turkmenistan (2011), Uzbekistan, (2011) Kazakhstan (2015), for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. This route will be operationalised by mid-January 2018.
Russia, Iran and India signed the agreement for the NSTC project on 16 May 2002. All three countries are founding member states on the project. Other important member states include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Belarus with other states having varying levels of involvement. Azerbaijan is heavily involved in the project currently building new train lines and roads to complete missing links in the NSTC. Turkmenistan currently is not a formal member but is likely to have a road connectivity to the corridor.
In November 2022, Russian Railways Logistics, Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ Express) and the Transport and Logistics Center of Turkmenistan (TULM) signed a memorandum of cooperation in international transportation and transit.
The document provides for the following areas of cooperation:
organization of regular cargo freight in trilateral and transit traffic
increase in the volume of international import-export cargo transportation
development of cooperation aimed at realizing the potential of the North–South railway corridor
joint use of transport and logistics infrastructure.
Implementation of technological innovations in order to realize the potential of the corridor.
Furthermore, the MoU guarantees the development of railway routes by launching new regular trains between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Russia, as well as regular container services.
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