ALMATY, Kazakhstan (TCA) — A press tour was held earlier this week for representatives of foreign and Kazakh media within the framework of China’s One Belt, One Road initiative to Altynkol station and facilities of the SEZ “Khorgos – Eastern gate” on the Kazakh-Chinese border in Kazakhstan’s Almaty region, the press service of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) national railway company reported.
The press tour was attended by journalists from the UK, Italy, China, Korea, France, Japan, Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands.
At Altynkol, chief engineer Maksat Mambetkulov told about the work of the cargo station located on the section Zhetygen – Gosgranitsa (state border). It is the second Kazakh-Chinese railway crossing, opened in 2012. Cargo flows from China to Europe, the Persian Gulf, Central Asia and the Caucasus pass through the station.
It has a modern infrastructure and advanced technologies for accelerated inspection and admission of cars.
Particular attention is paid to the departure of container trains. In 2018, 916 container trains were sent, for the first quarter of 2019 — more than 180 container trains to Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
The Chief Operating Officer of the Management Company of SEZ “Khorgos-Eastern gate” Hicham Belmaachi presented to visitors the investment projects implemented by participants on the territory of the Special Economic Zone.
The SEZ “Khorgos – Eastern gate” allows to fully promote the formation of the New Silk Road Economic Belt, offering an alternative solution for the accelerated delivery of goods from China to Central Asia and to the final consumer.
It is a promising distribution center for further exports to the markets of Europe, China, Central Asia, Turkey and the Gulf countries.
83 companies are registered participants of SEZ, 27 of them have started implementation of investment projects.
The representatives of the media were demonstrated the possibilities of the dry port of SEZ “Khorgos-Eastern gate”. In 2018, the operator of the port — KTZE – Khorgos Gateway — processed more than 130 thousand TEU (twenty-foot equivalent).
The journalists also visited the International Centre for Cross-Border Cooperation “Khorgos”. Residents of China, Kazakhstan and other countries do not need to apply for a visa to visit ICBC. There is a constant increase in the number of visitors — from 2015 to 2018, more than 3.5 million people visited the ICBC from Kazakhstan and more than 10 million from China.
