We are establishing a corridor to the south
For several days, our delegation examined trade routes through Tajikistan to Afghanistan (with further access to Pakistan and beyond).
Now it is the turn of Uzbekistan –the leading trade partner of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the region.
Yesterday I visited the site of the future International Trade Center "Termez" and the neighboring FEZ on the border with Afghanistan. It can become another anchor point along the Central Asian economic corridor "North-South/South-North". And not just a trade flow, but also production hubs – one of the centers of industrial cooperation that are being created along this route. I am talking about the International Center for Trade and Economic Cooperation "Central Asia" and other potential centers of cross-border trade that complement the existing "Khorgos", whose concept is now changing towards industrial cooperation.
Our investors looked at the location and concept of the International Trade Center and the Termez FEZ of the same name created by the neighbors on the border with Afghanistan.
Participation in the project is beneficial for Kazakh business, which is focused on export to Afghanistan and Pakistan, both in terms of the location of production facilities and the transit of finished products.
We discussed logistics, cargo flows and tariffs with the management of the Uzbek railway company. There are many nuances that we must take into account, and which may interfere with the expansion of mutual trade.
We have agreed to create a working group that will work on several issues at once.
This includes the docking of railway systems, wagons, platforms, the analysis of cargo flow (what to carry, where, in what volumes), and from this to look at the needs of modernization. For example, large traders and logisticians from our delegation are interested in the development of piggyback transportation, and the Uzbek railway will have to transform the platforms for this. They are ready to upgrade, but with a guarantee of good transportation volumes.
The solution of these issues is also relevant in the light of the connection of commodity distribution systems and agricultural trains from Central Asia to the north to Russia and back.
By the way, we also discussed this with Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the SCO Economic Forum, held in Dushanbe on Tuesday (https://www.facebook.com/100003639848209/posts/2299061343558505/?d=n)
The Working Group should also consider the possibility of supplying fuel from Kazakhstan for the Uzbek railway industry: lubricants, oils, filters, possibly-the purchase of our locomotives and mainline locomotives.
To begin with, we offered a "test drive" of the locomotive, so that colleagues could take a closer look, compare it with analogues… This idea will also be discussed in the working group.
Our shunting locomotives may be of interest to large enterprises of Uzbekistan that have their own access railways to their production facilities. For this purpose, during a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan, we decided to connect our and Uzbek businessmen. We will do this through strengthening the relationship between the CCI and our QazTrade.
By the way, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry talked a lot about establishing an interregional region-region dialogue: when akims of border regions are friends and business ties between businesses are strong, then country relations develop better.
The head of the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, Adham Ikramov, invited Kazakh business to cooperate in the creation of electrical equipment in order to not only meet domestic needs with a joint product, but also to push competitors.
We, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan occupy an important location at the junction of the East-West and South-North transcontinental corridors.
We should not only use our position to promote our own products, but also synchronize our approaches to transit opportunities.
Recently, in Kiev, then in Dushanbe and now in Tashkent, business asked to unify tariffs and remove barriers along existing and alternative corridors from West to East. With the launch of a cross-border commodity distribution system and the expansion of trade flows, the need for this will become more and more obvious. We will also resolve this issue with all the participants of the"corridor".
In the meantime, meetings and negotiations are continuing.
The main thing that I see during these few days of my working trip is that although the interests of each of the countries in the region are based on the national interests of their republics, there is an understanding that only the joint work of all will contribute to the development of each.