Logistics - The Times Of Central Asia

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Kazakhstan Building Five Cross-Border Trade Hubs

Kazakhstan is advancing plans to establish five cross-border trade and economic hubs, aiming to position the country as a key global transport and logistics center. The initiative was reviewed at a government meeting on December 10. Strategic Hub Development Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev reported that significant progress has been made on the hubs, with rail and road links already in place. The planned hubs are: The Khorgos Hub: Located on the border with China. The Caspian Hub: Situated along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR). The Eurasia Center for Cross-Border Trade: Positioned at the border with Russia. The “Central Asia” International Center for Industrial Cooperation: At the border with Uzbekistan. The Industrial Trade and Logistics Complex: At the border with Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, container hubs are planned for the ports of Aktau and Kuryk in the Mangistau region. Multimodal air hubs are also under development at airports in the cities of Astana, Almaty, Shymkent, and Aktobe. Broader Economic Goals Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov underscored the strategic importance of these projects, emphasizing their potential to reduce transit times, boost industrial production, increase tax revenues, and create new jobs. Bektenov highlighted that the network of hubs will form a unified trade and transport space with Kazakhstan’s key trading partners. “This will significantly increase trade turnover between the countries and strengthen strategic relations with neighboring states,” he said. The prime minister also stressed the importance of leveraging major transport corridors such as the East-West, North-South, and Trans-Caspian International Transport Route corridors to enhance access to the markets of China, the Persian Gulf, the Caucasus, and Europe.

roads Infrastructure Development Logistics Construction China Transport

Turkmenistan to Build New High-Speed Highway

The private company "Ojar Asia" has signed a contract with the Eurasian representative office of China's Sino Hydro Bureau 12 Co. Ltd., for the parties to jointly build the Serakhs-Mary-Serkhetabat highway in Turkmenistan. This road will have a length of about 450 kilometers. The highway will be an important element of the country's transport infrastructure, and will improve conditions for foreign trade, including the export of Turkmenistan's natural resources. More than $2 billion in investment from Sino Hydro Bureau will finance it, and Ojar Asia will lead the construction. Turkmenistan is developing road infrastructure to improve transportation links and stimulate its economy. Road projects are strategically important as the country plans to integrate the new highways into international East-West and North-South transportation corridors. This helps increase transit transportation and natural resource exports, which are vital in diversifying an economy traditionally dependent on hydrocarbon exports.

Investments Tajikistan Afghanistan Export/Import Economy Logistics Transport and Logistics

Tajikistan Proposes Afghan Border Logistics Zone to Enhance Trade

According to Bakhriddin Sirojiddinzoda, Head of the Tajikistan Export Agency, Tajikistan has plans to establish a large logistics zone on the border with Afghanistan. Based on national interests in using existing production and export opportunities, the aim of the export zone is to increase trade turnover, create a modern infrastructure for transporting goods and products, and regulate transportation costs. Referencing the proposal submitted to the government of Tajikistan for consideration, Sirojiddinzoda stated that the large logistics centre should be established in the neutral zone or near the Pyanj-Sher Khan Bandar border crossing and explained, “Experience shows that drivers need a visa to pay road taxes and other fees in Afghanistan to cross only 500 meters of road when exporting products to Afghanistan." He also stressed that establishing such a centre and developing business was unconnected to the country's official relations with the Taliban, stating: “No country has officially recognized the Taliban government, but their trade cooperation with the country continues. Some have even opened a ‘Trading House’ and a commercial representative office in Kabul. Tajik goods are transported through Afghanistan to Pakistan, and goods are also transported from there to us, the security of which is still ensured by Afghanistan." In the first half of 2024, the volume of sales of Tajikistan's agricultural products to Afghanistan amounted to $82.7 thousand; an 85% increase compared to the same period in 2023 when it barely reached $22.7 thousand. According to the Tajikistan Export Agency, nothing was imported from Afghanistan, and goods leaked into the republic from its territory were in transit from Pakistan and other countries.

International trade International investment e-Commerce Logistics Employment

Russian Online Retailer Wildberries to Build Logistics Center in Kyrgyzstan

Wildberries, Russia’s largest online marketplace, is set to build a logistics center spanning 300,000 square meters in the Chui region of northern Kyrgyzstan to service cross-border e-commerce. The initiative was confirmed on 16 May in Kazan, Russia, in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation by Wildberries, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Economy and Commerce, and the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in the Chui region. The large-scale infrastructure project represents an important milestone in trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Kyrgyzstan. As part of its positive impact on the Kyrgyz economy, the ministry says the initiative will help raise employment, and increase the volume of the economically active population through the development and emergence of new small and medium-sized enterprises, contractors, and buyers. Kyrgyzstan is currently home to two other Wildberries centres in Bishkek and Osh servicing some 130 order delivery points across the country. E-commerce is rapidly growing in Kyrgyzstan and to date, over 17,000 Kyrgyz sellers are registered on the Russian marketplace, compared to about 7,000 in 2022.

Logistics Economy Export/Import Investments Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan: Issyk-Kul forum attracts investments

BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan’s resort city Cholpon-Ata on July 21 hosted the fifth International Investment Forum "Issyk-Kul 2018". President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Jeenbekov declared 2018 the Year for the Regions’ Development, therefore the forum was devoted to the support of small and medium businesses, infrastructure development of the regions and ways to attract investments there. Open to cooperation "Together with partners in the Eurasian Economic Union, World Trade Organization and other integration associations, Kyrgyzstan has opened access of domestic and foreign businesses to promising markets," First Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Kubatbek Boronov said at the forum. It is necessary to build innovative business interaction in conditions of developing global logistics and high-tech instruments of trade and commercial operations which are blurring the borders and the distance between countries and people, Boronov added. Promotion of investments together with introduction of modern information technologies will help boost the country’s regions, he concluded. The Issyk-Kul forum has been held annually since 2014 by the Investment Promotion and Protection Agency of Kyrgyzstan (IPPA) with the support of the Huahe international consulting company and the local authorities of the Issyk-Kul province. Every year the organizers choose a certain topic of the forum. For example, the forum agenda in 2017 was new opportunities and prospects in the Eurasian Economic Union. In 2016, the forum was dedicated to deepening business cooperation in the agro-industrial complex, tourism and ecology. Participants and presentations Representatives of DP World (a leading enabler of global trade and an integral part of the supply chain, which has a portfolio of 78 operating marine and inland terminals in 40 countries across six continents) and the Fujairah Chamber of Commerce and Industry from the UAE, the BAIC GROUP Chinese automotive corporation and the delegation of the Eurasian Economic Commission attended the forum. Deputy Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of the Hubei Province of China, Wang Ling, spoke about business opportunities in her region, taking into account the development of modern technologies and integration of business in making decisions important for the country. The forum guests were presented Kyrgyzstan’s investment opportunities. Representatives of the business community voiced their proposals for digital commerce.For the first time, the forum was online, and investors can now find it on social networks to contact interested companies or the Investment Promotion and Protection Agency. Reporting on the work done, IPPA Director Shumkarbek Adilbek uulu told about two cooperation agreements signed for $33 million — on the establishment of an industrial park in Ivanovka village in the Chui oblast and on processing of mining raw materials at the Kan lead and zinc deposit in the Batken province in the south of Kyrgyzstan. The Investment Agency, with the technical support from the Aid for Trade UNDP project, organized B2B meetings with business representatives from Uzbekistan, Russia and China. As a result of negotiations, five domestic companies signed six trade contracts for a total of 132.2 million soms, or $1.93 million. Contracts for the supply of honey, trout, limestone,...

Turkmenistan Transport Trade Logistics

Turkmenistan: USAID bolsters local transport and logistics companies

ASHGABAT (TCA) — The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has concluded a five-day workshop designed to help transport and logistics companies in Turkmenistan improve their management systems and increase their export opportunities, the US Embassy in Ashgabat reported. Turkmenistan has developed numerous large-scale infrastructure projects to improve trade potential but, without good management practices, local transport and logistics companies will not be able to take advantage of improved trade opportunities. Continue reading