Representatives of the railway companies of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan have discussed the possibility of launching a new transport corridor from China through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to Afghanistan, Podrobno.uz says citing the press service for O'zbekiston temir yo'llari (Uzbekistan Railways).
This initiative was reportedly discussed on August 10 during a meeting via video link-up attended by Acting Chairman of the Board at O'zbekiston temir yo'llari Khusnutdin Khasilov, Director General of Kyrgyz Temir Zholu (Kyrgyz Railways) Azamat Sakiyev and Bakht-ur-Rahman Sharafat, head of the Afghanistan Railway as well as representatives of China's logistic company Wakhan Corridor and China and Afghanistan authorities.
The sides reportedly discussed the organizing of a new corridor, China – Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan – Afghanistan and establishing mutually-beneficial conditions for cargo traffic along the corridor, and, most importantly, introducing competitive tariffs.
It is planned that cargo from China's Kashgar will be shipped via the corridor to Kyrgyzstan's Osh by road and then by rail across Uzbek territory to Hairatan, Afghanistan.
According to experts, with this multimodal transport corridor in use, cargo traffic from China to Afghanistan and onwards could increase from current 3,500 to 60,000 containers per year
