The Minister of Transport of Tajikistan Azim Ibrohim has instructed subordinate institutions to organize a pilot railway train along the multimodal corridor from China to Europe through Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkiye.
According to the press center of the Ministry of Transport, the order was announced at an extended meeting of the ministry’s board that took place in Dushanbe on July 12 to review the results of work carried over the first six months of this year and discuss tasks for the second half of the year.
The minister reportedly also instructed to build new transit railroads and gradually upgrade the country’s rolling stock.
Azim Ibrohim had earlier stated that the railway transport is the most important strategic sector of the country.
In a statement delivered at the session “Development of International Transport Corridors Passing through the Countries of Asia and the Middle East” at the 15th International Economic Forum “Russia — Islamic World” in Tatarstan’s capital Kazan, Mr. Ibrohim noted on May 17 this year that the railway transport plays an important role in meeting the needs of Tajikistan’s economy and population.
According to him, the proportion of cargo shipments by the railway transport in the overall amount of shipments is more than 70 percent.
Tajik transport minister further noted that Tajik government plans to channel about 75.5 million US dollars to implementation of more than ten projects aimed at developing the country’s railway sector.
Mr. Ibrohim also noted that a special attention is paid to development of economic and transport multimodal corridors connecting the countries of South-East Asia with countries of Central Asia, Russia, Iran, and Turkiye and further with European countries, which provide access to seaports.
“Besides, an active work is underway to effectively use the Tajikistan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkiye corridor, which provides the shortest route from China’s border through territories of Tajikistan and the abovementioned countries and promotes regional economic integration,” Ibrohim said, noting that this corridor connects China with countries in the North-South Corridor (NSC).
Tajik minister emphasized that the North-South Corridor ensures the development of uninterrupted, timely and efficient movement of goods between the countries of the region.
“Realizing the importance of this route, Tajikistan in 2024 decided to join it,” Azim Ibrohim added.
Meanwhile, the press service of Kazakhstan’s government says Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan discussed construction of a new railway Turgundi – Herat – Kandahar — Spin-Buldak (town in Afghanistan) that will connect these countries with Pakistan and India. This railway will run from the western border of Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and further to India.
This tripartite meeting reportedly took place at the end of last week on the margins of the first-ever transport trade-export forum ‘North-South’, which was held in the Kazakh city of Aktau on July 19-20.
