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Trans-Caspian Corridor High on Agenda of Kazakh President’s Visit to Azerbaijan

On March 11th, Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev attended the first meeting of the Interstate Council of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in Baku where freight and oil shipment across the Caspian Sea was high on the agenda. The leaders also participated, by teleconference, in a ceremony marking the arrival of the first container train in Azerbaijan’s Absheron station following its departure on February 28th from the Kazakh transport and logistics centre in China’s Xi'an, via the new section of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR). At the ceremony, Tokayev emphasized that against current global geopolitical turbulence, the creation of a new transport and logistics framework for Eurasia has a key role to play in nurturing close and fruitful cooperation between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Following talks with the Azerbaijani president, Tokayev spoke of the intensifying degree to which other countries struggle to access transport and logistics opportunities. “This is a strategic area. As testified by today’s ceremony, the close interaction between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, as natural partners, is therefore both gratifying and highly significant.” Outlining other issues raised at the meeting, the Kazakh president told the press, “We discussed joint efforts in the fields of digitalization, the creation of artificial intelligence, and the construction of fibre-optic communications along the bed of the Caspian Sea. Each is a unique project.” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev reiterated that the Trans-Caspian transport corridor will determine the level of regional cooperation. “It is impossible to become a transit country without good relations with neighbours. Both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have demonstrated their commitment to regional cooperation and strengthening their relations with their neighbours. We are separated the Caspian Sea but this is no longer an obstacle. On the contrary, with the Trans-Caspian transport route set to reach its full potential, the Caspian Sea is a bridge not only between our countries, but also between many others too.” In his report to the Kazakh-Azerbaijani Business Council on cargo transported via the TITR between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, Satzhan Ablaliev, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Transport, stated: “The volume increased by 65% in 2023, and in the current year, is planned to increase by a further 43%, of up to 4.2 million tons. In January alone, the volume of transportation increased 2.5-fold compared to January last year. The transit of Chinese containers has increased almost 3-fold.” During Tokayev’s visit, Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas and Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR signed an agreement to increase the transit of Kazakh oil across the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan along the Aktau-Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan route to 2.2 million tons per year. This represents significant progress on an agreement drawn up in 2022 to transport up to 1.5 million tons of oil along the same route. The two companies also signed a Memorandum of Strategic Cooperation on the purchase and sale of Kazakh oil for further processing at SOCAR’s refineries and subsequent trading in the regional and global markets.

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The C5+1 Concept: The Idea Behind This Week’s B5+1 Forum in Almaty

Recognizing that the Central Asia region could benefit more from initiatives in global security, business and trade if its countries strengthened their cooperation in key areas, the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) created the ‘C5+1’ platform last year for just this purpose. The Center’s 5+1 group features the governments of the five Central Asian republics – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan – plus the United States, whose State Department and international chambers of commerce are central to the platform’s work. An inaugural C5+1 Summit was held in September 2023, on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. At this high-level meeting, the presidents of each of the Central Asian nations joined US president Joe Biden in dialog on enhancing the region’s stability and prosperity through economic, energy, and security partnerships within the C5+1 framework. Building on this start made by C5+1, CIPE is now launching the ‘B5+1’ format, focused on cooperation in the global business context. The inaugural B5+1 Forum will take place this week in Kazakhstan’s business capital of Almaty, and will include presentations and panel discussions with policy makers from the United States, Central Asia and several other countries. On 14 and 15 March leaders from the public sector will discuss Central Asia’s economic integration, international trade and investment alongside dozens of influential private companies. The B5+1 Forum will pick up where the C5+1 Summit left off in exploring opportunities for American companies in Central Asia. This potential lies in key sectors such as critical minerals, renewable energy and manufacturing. The Almaty event will also continue the conversation on enhancing regional connectivity via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Trans-Caspian Corridor. At a time of geopolitical upheaval and disruption of existing supply chains, international investment in this trade route is being sought through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. The B5+1 Forum forms part of CIPE’s program called “Improving the Business Environment in Central Asia” (IBECA). CIPE themselves are affiliated to the US Chamber of Commerce – the catalyst behind the B7 and B20 platforms – and receive funding from the US Department of State. The establishment of B5+1 is closely aligned with commitments made during the C5+1 Summit last September, and outlined in a document called the New York Declaration. The upcoming Forum aims to deliver on two key commitments in the declaration. The Times of Central Asia will be in attendance at the B5+1 Forum on 14-15 March, and will be publishing insight and analysis from the event.

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US Policymakers and Central Asian Business Leaders Gather in Almaty for the CIPE B5+1 Forum

Cooperation and trade with Central Asia still holds much unrealized potential. The region is developing fast and offers opportunities for companies and agencies, both international and local. As the global geopolitical landscape changes and supply chains are disrupted, the importance of Central Asia as a business and transit hub, through initiatives such as the Trans-Caspian Corridor, is growing. There are therefore great incentives for the five countries of the region – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan – to find ways to function as a single integrated market, in order to capitalize on opportunities for foreign and local companies, and attract more international investment and business. For this reason the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) is inviting policymakers from Central Asia, the United States and other countries to its B5+1 Forum this week. On 14 and 15 March in Kazakhstan’s business capital of Almaty, leading minds from the public sector will discuss Central Asia’s economic integration, international trade and investment, alongside dozens of high-profile private companies. An event on 14 March entitled “Looking within Central Asia” will introduce the objectives and expected outcomes of the B5+1 format. Presentations by representatives of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of National Economy, the Caspian Policy Center, the US Department of State and Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Economy and Commerce will give business-focused perspectives on improving economic integration and the investment climate. The discussion on 15 March will center on the theme of “Central Asia’s place in the world economy”. Talks from representatives of the US-Kazakhstan Business Council, the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will give an international perspective on promoting trade and investment flows in Central Asia. The B5+1 Forum forms part of CIPE’s program “Improving the Business Environment in Central Asia” (IBECA). CIPE themselves are affiliated to the US Chamber of Commerce – the catalyst behind the B7 and B20 platforms – and receive funding from the US Department of State. The establishment of B5+1 is closely aligned with commitments outlined in a document called the New York Declaration to strengthen the republics' economic relations, and improve the business environment for regional economic integration and investments. The upcoming Forum aims to deliver on two key commitments in the declaration. The Times of Central Asia will be in attendance at the B5+1 Forum on 14-15 March, and will be publishing insight and analysis from the event.

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Expansion of Transport Connections between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

On March 8th, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan Beibut Atamkulov and the Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan Ilhom Makhkamov met in Tashkent to discuss the expansion of transit, transport and logistics links between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The implementation of a collaborative project to improve the road and rail infrastructure between the two countries is essential for the realization of a plan to increase bilateral trade to $10 billion per annum. Kazakh-Uzbek rail and road freight is growing. In 2023, the volume of rail freight alone, between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, increased by 17.2% to 31.4 million tons, compared to 26.8 million tons in 2022. The resumption of air services between the Kazakh cities of Almaty and Aktobe and Uzbekistan’s Nukus, as well as new connections between the countries’ tourist centres including Turkestan-Samarkand, Turkestan-Bukhara, and Turkestan-Urgench, was also discussed. The current number of weekly flights between cities in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is 25; between Astana and Tashkent, 8, and between Almaty and Tashkent, 17.

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New Bonded Zone to Boost Kyrgyz Exports to China

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic has announced the opening of a new bonded zone to boost the development of e-commerce and exportation of Kyrgyz goods to the Chinese market. The zone covers an area of 7,500 square meters on the Kyrgyzstan border between Kyrgyz Pochtasy (Kyrgyz Post) OJSC, Naryn’s free economic zone (FEZ), and Kashgar FEZ in China’s western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The opening of the new national pavilion ‘Made in Kyrgyzstan,’ a facility where Kyrgyz products are exhibited, stored, sold, and shipped both in e-commerce and offline modes, was attended by Akylbek Japarov, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, on a visit to the zone early in March. The project provides 48 and 72-hour direct warehouse-to-warehouse services for cross-border trading logistics between China and Kyrgyzstan.

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Central Asian Energy Trading May Soon Include Iran

According to the Iran.ru news agency, Iranian Minister of Energy Ali-Akbar Mehrabian has said that his country is open to trading electricity with Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran currently exchanges electricity with the majority of its neighbors, according to Mehrabian, who made the statement in Tehran during a meeting with Uzbek Minister of Energy Zhorabek Mirzamakhmudov on March 4. Mehrabian paid particular attention to the growth of cooperation between Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the area of electricity markets and trading. As part of the Unified Energy System of Central Asia (UESCA), which was established during the Soviet era, the energy systems of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan currently operate separately. Turkmenistan exited the system in 2003, which was a direct result of Uzbekistan’s refusal to allow electricity from Turkmenistan to transit across Uzbek grid infrastructure. Tajikistan was automatically disqualified from the UESCA when Uzbekistan unilaterally withdrew following a significant accident in Tajikistan’s energy system in November 2009 -- a catastrophe that also led Kazakhstan to accuse Tajikistan in that same month of stealing power from the grid. In 2018, the regional system was rebooted with the return of Uzbekistan to UESCA. In 2019 Tajikistan began work to rejoin the unified energy grid ring of Central Asia, with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank. Tajikistan’s Ministry of Energy declared last summer that the country would like to become a member of the regional system by the end of 2023, but little progress has been made up to the present. One positive sign of note is that since 2018, Tajikistan has been supplying electricity to some districts of Uzbekistan's Surkhandarya region -- because those districts aren't connected to the Uzbek central power distribution grid.

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