Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has suggested launching a new transcontinental terrestrial route to facilitate freights flows from Asia to Europe.
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has suggested launching a new transcontinental terrestrial route to facilitate freights flows from Asia to Europe.
“I suggest launching a new Eurasian transcontinental corridor across Kazakhstan to facilitate smooth freights follows from Asia to Europe (…) These would be shorter routes than the current maritime routes, with all the sides equally benefitting from them”, he said when speaking at the annual Astana Economic Forum May 22.
According to him, the current maritime routes don’t meet the growing needs of international trade. “As of today the trade turnover between China and the EU stands at around $600 billion; the figure is projected to reach $800 billion by 2020”, he said.
He added that possible terrestrial routes would be three times shorter than the maritime route.
“Our first such project is construction of the West Europe – West China motor corridor across Kazakhstan. 3000 km of the 8000-km-long route run through the Kazakhstan’s territory. The Kazakh sector of the motor corridor is to be completed this year. When completed, the Kazakh segment will accommodate up to 30 million tons of freight a year. The route will not only link China and Kazakhstan, but also Russia and Europe, with all Central Asian states enjoying an access to it”, he elaborated.