Addressing the participants of the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev The President also identified the development of transport connectivity and the strengthening of transit potential as another promising area for expanding cooperation.
“For Kazakhstan, the key corridors are North–South, Western China–Western Europe, and the Trans-Caspian route. Their seamless integration would significantly enhance the efficiency of the entire continental transport system. This objective is supported by the Concept for the Integration of Major Transport Corridors Passing through the Territories of the CIS Member States, adopted in May this year at our country’s initiative. Kazakhstan is making a tangible contribution to implementing this Concept. In August, construction began on the new Aral–Caspian highway, with a total length of more than 1,500 kilometres. Once this strategic project is completed, the road route from China to Europe will be shortened by approximately 1,000 kilometres, while transit cargo delivery times will be reduced by up to three days.
Single Digital Corridor
The Head of State also focused on “soft infrastructure”, including the digitalisation of transport operations, electronic document management and the harmonisation of border procedures.
“A key priority for us is to establish a ‘single digital corridor’. At our suggestion, electronic exchanges of transport permits have been introduced with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Similar work is under way with Russia and Belarus. In May this year, the first cross-border unmanned cargo flights were launched jointly with Russia. I believe it would be practically beneficial to scale up the most effective solutions across the CIS,” the Head of State noted.
