DUSHANBE, October 3, 2013, Asia-Plus — Russia has offered construction of a railway to Tajikistan via Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, according to the Ministry of Transport (MoT).
An official source at a MoT says Russia has offered to build the Russia-Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan during the discussion of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Strategy covering the period up to 2020.
The strategy was reportedly discussed at the 11th meeting of the CAREC Regional Joint Transport and Trade Facilitation Committee in Astana, Kazakhstan.
“The project offered by Russia will be continuation of the project aimed at construction of the rail link connecting Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan,” the source said.
According to him the Tajik side has already considered the project and sent its proposals for consideration to CAREC.
We will recall that the presidents of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan on March 20 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for construction of the rail link connecting the three countries.
The 400-kilometer railroad is expected to connect the Afghan town of Akina-Andkhoy to Atamurat-Ymamnazar in Turkmenistan and Panj in Tajikistan.
The construction work is scheduled to be finished in 2016. The railway link will play an important role in strengthening the economies of the countries and peoples in the region. China, Iran and Kyrgyzstan are expected to join this ambitious project.
