At the opening ceremony of the forum in Brussels, the stability of meetings between the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan and the European Commission was noted, confirming the mutual desire to strengthen partnership and transport connectivity through the Global Gateway initiative, El.kz reports with reference to the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In his speech, the Minister of Transport made a presentation to the participants of the European Forum on the achievements and prospects for the development of the transport industry of Kazakhstan, emphasizing the key role of the country in the transit of goods between Europe and Central Asia.
He noted that cargo turnover is growing at a faster pace. So, at the end of 2023, transit traffic with China increased by 2 times, and the total volume of transit increased by 43%.
Marat Karabayev proposed to use Kazakhstan's platforms as the main and most stable transit route between Europe and Asia.
In the main part of the presentation, the head of the Ministry of Transport said that in the next 5 years, Kazakhstan intends to attract investments of 40 billion euros for the implementation of the main infrastructure projects in the field of transport.
In the railway industry, it is expected to build new main lines with a length of 1,300 km and modernize the existing infrastructure. This work is aimed at multiplying the capacity between Asia and the European Union.
In the field of civil aviation, for the development of the industry and the creation of a continental transit hub, it is planned to transfer 22 airports of Kazakhstan to investors under management.
To create a container hub in the port of Aktau, investors are offered 171 hectares for the development of terminal capacities. Along with this, it is possible to transfer the seaports of Aktau and Kuryk to trust management on a ship-or-pay basis.
At the end of his speech, Marat Karabayev invited European organizations and companies to take part in the New Silkway Forum, which will be held in June in Astana, and also proposed to organize an investment forum on partnership between the EU and Kazakhstan in the transport sector in September this year.