Idil Bilgic-Alpaslan, Principal Infrastructure Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), during her presentation at a European Union Seminar on Sustainable Transport Connections between Europe and Central Asia, held on Friday in Brussels, said the Central Asian region, located in a favorable geographical area that connects China and South Asia to Europe, has great potential to become a transport hub in Asia, Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Belgium Sapar Palvanov, who participated in the seminar, told Business Turkmenistan.
The event was organized by the European Commission and the EBRD.
In her presentation of initial findings of Study on Sustainable Transport Connections between Europe and Central Asia, Idil Bilgic-Alpaslan stressed that Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan's access to the Caspian Sea allows these countries to occupy key positions in the transport corridor, adding that Turkmenbashi International Seaports, which is one of the largest and advanced Caspian seaport, can play a great role in connecting the regions.
In addition, it was noted that Central Asian countries are working effectively to improve intraregional transport corridors, and an important role in this regard is attributed to the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway.
The EBRD, its latest Regional Economic Prospects report, published on Thursday, forecast the GDP of Central Asian region to increase by 4.3 percent on average in 2022 and 4.9 percent in 2023, which is an upward revision of its spring forecast.