New Guzor to Beinau Highway Brings Uzbekistan Closer to Europe

Uzbekistan has completed a new 240-kilometer section of the A380 highway connecting the cities of Guzor, Bukhara, Nukus, and Beineu, passing through the Kungirot district of Karakalpakstan. The road, built with a cement-concrete coating, is a strategic road connecting Uzbekistan with Europe. The Asian Development Bank allocated $274.9 million to the construction, while Uzbekistan contributed $108.5 million. Turkish and Azerbaijani companies managed the first 120 kilometers of the road, with Chinese companies managing the rest. The highway aims to boost the capacity and quality of international and national highways, cutting road maintenance costs by 2.5 times. This new road will reduce travel time by 2.2 times, double transit traffic, cut fatal accidents by half, and contribute to regional GDP growth. It will also reduce Uzbekistan's international transport distance to 1,000 kilometers, lowering shipping costs by 25%. New trade and service centers are planned alongside the highway, initially creating 2,000 jobs and an additional 5,000 expected. This development is projected to boost Karakalpakstan’s annual transit and service revenue by $200 million and exports by at least $300 million.

Container Trains from China to Europe through Kazakhstan reaches 80%

On March 25th, Marat Karabaev, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport visited Urumqi in China’s western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, home to the International Dry Port, the Express Delivery Center (Jitu Express), the China-Europe Railway Express Hub, and the office of the Xinjiang Trade and Logistics Corporation. The occasion marked the anniversary of the departure of the 150th container train, Tian Shan, along the China-EU route. During the ceremony, it was stated that over the 10-year period since the launch of China’s Belt and Road initiative in 2013, about 85 thousand container trains were sent from China to Europe; 80% of which had passed through Kazakhstan. Earlier this month, the Kazakh government announced plans to increase the volume of cargo transported by rail to 450 million tons and by road to 316 million tons. The proposed increase in transit transportation to 30 million tons will include that of cargo along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route to at 4.2 million tons.