On last Tuesday, the third container train making rest run along China Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Iran route went from Turkmenistan to Iran via Akyayla railway station. As it was informed earlier, the first test along this route crossed Turkmen Iranian border on January 8 and the second one few days later on January 12.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov initiates large-scale projects aimed at the development of beneficial economic relations and consolidation of international cooperation by the formation of strong transport and communication infrastructure. Today, the logistic strategy of Turkmenistan acquired specific features in the scale of entire Central Asia and the continent.
Transit capabilities of our transport system attract more attention of foreign partners including the People’s Republic of China, from which regions three trains comprising of more than 130 carriage with various consumer goods together have been sent starting from the end of December.
The trains left following each other from Yínchuān (autonomic region in the central part of the PRC), Chángshā (Húnán Province), large industrial centre in the south of China and from Xian, (Shanxi Province) in the north of the country.
They covered the territory of Kazakhstan to Turkmen railway station Serhetyaka for three days and after crossed 825 km via Balkan Velayat for 15 hours up to the border with Iran.
Thus, total time of the trip on China Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Iran made around two weeks what in average two times faster than by sea route, which takes around 30 40 days.
According to the experts, this routes that stretched across the territories of four countries is beneficial logistic solution in fast supplies of the cargos from China to the Persian Gulf markets.
At the same time, the advantages of the railroad comparing with other transports are the resistance to weather conditions, high reliability and safety of land container routes, low cost at massive traffic, in other words the economy, as well as the ecological aspect if to look at this from environmental impact point of view.
Therefore, Head of the State Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov gives the key role to railway sector in improvement of transit attractiveness of the country.
The test runs allowed Chinese suppliers assessing the economic advantage by the cutting of the route and the cost of transportation using transit corridor via Turkmenistan. Besides, China, being large trade partner of Eurasian countries is interested in connecting of Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Iran railway with other bordering states initiating the negotiations in this field.
For Turkmenistan, participation in this transnational project means the improvement of the income from activation of transit capabilities and promotion of its positions in international cargo traffic market as a state with developed transport system and logistic service, which are the important features of social, economic and technical progress and involvement of the country to the world economic relations.
Today in Turkmenistan, the Silk Route is restored in modern road, railway, air and sea lines of regional and continental importance owing to successful realization of transport policy of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. These routes will provide the consolidation of foreign economic relations, the growth of cargo and passenger traffic, cultural and tourist relations between many countries.
Together with the benefits of transit potential of our country, active work of Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Iran railway will give sarong impulse to the development of Caspian Region including the expansion of its production and social infrastructure.
Transport sphere is one of the central functional sectors in this context.This is the leading form of social production and largest social and economic factor, which level makes effect on the condition and development of the industry, agriculture, tourism, and on prosperity and comfort of the population.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Iran railway is not only commercially grounded project but also serious factor of geopolitics, which is able to make big positive effect on general situation in the region and byend its borders, to support the stability and security in Asia and give additional stability to all system of continental relations.
Turkmenistan, while being an active participant of global processes, is trying to make its input to the formation of new architecture of international relations based on balanced development what is indicated by the launch of North South transport corridor and by construction of other interstate routes.
Standing for multilateral format of cooperation, our country supplements it with fundamental initiatives proposed and adopted in the forms of resolutions at the UN level.The proposal of the President of Turkmenistan on the development of the UN Special Programme on transport development stipulating the study of transit and transport opportunities between Caspian and Black Seas, Central Asia and Middle East is aimed at the expansion of benefical trade and economic relations.
International transport corridors became the key mechanisms of the globalization of the world economy.Being the catalyst of these processes, Turkmenistan forms one of the important logistic centre of the continent on its territory based on stable economic and social development of the country and the strategy of the realization of geo-economics potential of our state in the interests of the region and the world elaborated by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.