The automobile corridor was initiated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during the state visit to the People’s Republic of China last May, when the two sides signed an intergovernmental agreement on the international automobile communication.
As representatives of Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Trade informed, the implementation of this project will have a positive effect on the volumes of mutual trade turnover and allow the countries to fully cash in the existing transit potential of Uzbekistan, China and Kyrgyzstan. The Afghan partners are also showing interest in the route for cargo transportation by rail from Mazar-i-Sharif to Andijan and further to China.
The pilot truck rally on the route Tashkent-Andijan-Osh-Irkeshtam-Kashgar with the participation of lorries from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China took place from October 30 to November 3 last year. The 920 km long route was overcome in 31 hours, of which the automobiles were in motion for 16 hours, while the average speed of the convoy was about 50-60 km per hour. The time for the passage of the Dustlik crossing point on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border took about 1.5 hours, and the Irkeshtam point on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border took around two hours.
It is established that the road passing through the Sary-Tash urban settlement and the Irkeshtam pass in Kyrgyzstan at an altitude of more than 3,500 meters above sea level is the shortest automobile route from the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan to China.
In January 2018, all organizational and technical issues related to the opening of regular road transport of goods along the route Tashkent-Andijan-Osh-Irkeshtam-Kashgar were agreed between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and the PRC.
For the organization of transportation of export-import cargoes on this new motor corridor, the joint enterprise Silk Road International is created. To implement its activities at the first stage will be involved about 80 trucks. In the future, based on the volume of transportation, the fleet will increase.
Great interest in the new route is primarily due to the minimum delivery time. According to the earlier acting corridor, the cargo from Uzbekistan to China went 8-10 days, but now it will take two days. And, if necessary, an urgent freight can be delivered from Uzbekistan to the Middle Kingdom within 24 hours.
An important factor is the cost of transportation. Transparent and flexible system of tariffs for transportation of containers and modular cargoes allows to save from $ 300 to $ 500 for delivery of each lot. In general, expenses in this direction will decrease by about $ 2.5 million per year, which, undoubtedly, will affect the competitiveness of domestic products on the foreign market.
To create additional conveniences for consignors and consignees of the republic, a multimodal transport and logistics center has been created in the Andijan region on the basis of the terminal of the station Akhtachi, allowing cargo to be transported from all corners of Uzbekistan to Andijan by rail and then by motor road to China.
All the work carried out serves as a basis for further cooperation of the countries of the region, including the activation of the construction of the new Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway that will allow for the creation of new transcontinental corridors China-Central Asia-Caucasus-Europe and China-Central Asia-Afghanistan-Iran. Thus, the length of route along these routes will be reduced by almost a thousand kilometers.
And with the construction of the new Mazar-e-Sharif-Herat railway (Trans-Afghan corridor), according to experts, the transcontinental transport corridor China-Central Asia-South Asia-Middle East will be complete.
Source: Information Agency “Jahon”
The following two tabs change content below.
Ravshan Vafoev