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Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan sign roadmap on developing INSTC eastern route
The four neighboring countries signed the roadmap on synchronically developing the potential of the eastern route of the INSTC for 2024-2025, the press service of the Kazakh Transport Ministry reported.
The document was signed at the first transport trade and export forum North-South in Kazakhstan’s Aktau on Friday.
Implementation of this document by 2027 will increase the corridor’s capacity to 15m tons per year, and by 2030, to 20 million tons, according to the ministry.
The plan is to connect the North-South corridor with the Trans-Afghan corridor through the construction of new railways.
The forum served as a platform for dialogue between 500 participants from 12 countries.
The forum marked a milestone in the development of the transport corridor, which is pivotal for connecting global markets.
During the forum’s opening ceremony, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin emphasized the importance of his country’s role in the transport corridor, which serves as a critical link between Asia and Europe.
This project will require an investment of $1.9b, part of which will be sourced through preferential terms from the Eurasian Development Bank. Key infrastructure projects include modernizing sections of the Orsk-Kandyagash-Makat-Beineu-Bolashak and Iletsk-1-Aktobe railways.
Addressing the forum, Kazakh Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev said that his country plans to continue its active participation in the development of the eastern route of the INSTC.
He asserted that this corridor is the safest and shortest transportation route to the Indian Ocean.
“Therefore, it is necessary to start the road map signed today in the context of the simultaneous development of the potential of the eastern route of this corridor from the territory of Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran,” he added.
The North-South corridor, which was the product of the will and determination of Russia, Iran and India in the year 2000 to create a cargo transportation corridor, witnessed the joining of a number of other countries to this transit route during the following years.
What motivated these countries to join this transit route was that the common routes for sending goods from India to St. Petersburg, Russia, which passes through the Suez Canal, is about 14,500 km long, but Iran’s corridor in this route is only 7,200 kilometers, and the use of this capacity reduces 40% of transit time and 30% of transportation costs.