On May 11, Ministers of Transport of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Marat Karabaev and Ilkhom Makhkamov signed a Road Map for strategic cooperation in transport and logistics for 2024-2025.
During the meeting in Astana, the ministers discussed the development of international transport corridors, rail and road transportation, and joint projects relating to the construction of a transport infrastructure.
High on the agenda, were the joint implementation of the construction of the Uzbekistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan railway and the collaborative development of the multimodal transport corridor Belarus – Russia – Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan.
With reference to accelerating transportation through the digitalization of cargo documentation, the parties lauded the introduction of the ‘E-permit’ system of electronic exchange of permit forms between the two countries.
The Kazakh side welcomed Uzbekistan’s plans to build the Termez – Mazar-i-Sharif – Kabul – Peshawar railway and confirming his country’s readiness to participate in the project, Marat Karabaev stated, “The implementation of the project will contribute to the development of regional connectivity and trade for the countries of Central Asia, giving them access to the major sea ports of the South Asian region.”
The parties also reported that work is now underway on a new railway line between Darbaza and Maktaaral, which will increase the throughput capacity between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan by a further 10 million tons.
The Kazakh minister noted that the volume of export-import transportation between the two countries by road increased by 6% over the past year and amounted to 1.8 million tons.
