Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are expected to further intensify their cooperation in transport and economy spheres with the commissioning of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

The volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan increased by 12-15 percent for the first three quarters of 2017.

This was stated by Kazakh Ambassador to Azerbaijan Beybit Isabayev at a briefing in Baku on October 26.

He said that during this period, about 1.5 million tons of cargo were transported by rail, that is 146 percent more than in the same period last year.

"Export transportation through Azerbaijan increased by 744,900 tons or 269 percent due to the growth in the loading of oil products. Imports from Azerbaijan and through its territory to Kazakhstan grew by 106,700 tons, or 58 percent due to the growth of transportation of sugar products, chemicals and soda, confectionery products," the envoy said.

In recent years, there has been a slight decrease in trade turnover between the two countries due to the global financial and economic crisis, according to Isabayev.

"Nevertheless, over the past year and a half we have seen a steady trend in the growth of trade. Presidents of the two countries agreed in April to increase the turnover by 2-2.5 times and expand the range of goods supplied. In this regard, a special 'road map' was developed, and by the end of this year a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation will be held in Baku, where it is planned to discuss the full range of issues of trade and economic relations, develop mechanisms and solutions," he said.

The ambassador noted that, according to the forecast estimates, freight shipments to the East-West direction will increase five-fold until 2020 as 1,3 million containers from China will be sent to the West, of which 300,000 containers will be transported along the Caucasus route, that is, through Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

"The flow of goods from Europe via Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to the countries of Central Asia and China will increase at times, as well as the flow of Chinese goods through Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to Europe," he added.

Kazakh envoy went on to say that Kazakhstan will supply various railway products worth $500 million for Azerbaijan Railways CJSC in the near future.

The relevant agreements were signed as part of a strategy of cooperation of the two countries on expanding trade turnover and list of delivered goods, according to Isabayev.

Moreover, the first two freight electric locomotives manufactured by France’s Alstom company at the production site of the Elektrovoz Kurastyru Zauyty (EKZ) joint venture in Kazakhstan will be delivered to Azerbaijan in the next few days, he noted.

Kazakh ambassador added that all 40 freight electric locomotives will be delivered until 2020.

“Another 24 locomotives will be delivered to Azerbaijan in 2018. Azerbaijan will get the remaining 14 electric locomotives in 2019. They will be used on the sections of the new Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor,” Isabayev said.

He noted that earlier, Kazakhstan had already delivered 10 locomotives to Azerbaijan.

In addition, Isabayev underlined that Kazakhstan has started manufacturing the second freight train, which will run along the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

He said the second train will be loaded with coal, which is supposed to be delivered to Romania.

The ambassador recalled that recently the first freight train of 82 containers was delivered from Kazakhstan's Kostanay, which will deliver grain to the Turkish Mersin, passing through the BTK.

The launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is a historic and grandiose event, according to the envoy.

"This was preceded by 10 years of continuous painstaking work. BTK is a large-scale project that will give an additional powerful impetus to the development of transit and transport interaction not only between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, but also all countries that connect Asia and Europe along the Silk Way route,” he said.

Isabayev also informed that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is expected to attend the opening ceremony of the BTK railway.

The opening of the BTK railway will take place October 30 in Baku.

The BTK railway is constructed on the basis of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey intergovernmental agreement. The main purpose of the project is to improve economic relations between the three countries and gain foreign direct investment by connecting Europe and Asia.

Many experts consider that the launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor will not only diversify the communication capabilities of Kazakhstan, but also increase its role as a transit country in the Chinese initiative "One Belt - One Way". With the launch of the BTK railway, new prospects of increasing the flow of goods from Kazakhstan to Europe are opening up.

The project implementation began in 2007 and construction began in 2008. The line is intended to transport one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight at the first stage. This capacity will then reach 3 million passengers and 17 million tons of cargo.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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