Kazakhstan intends to become a key transport hub in Eurasia

As the head of the republic emphasized in his speech, Kazakhstan is at the crossroads of routes connecting the global North and South, West and East. And this advantage must be actively used so that in the future the country becomes a full-fledged transport and logistics power, where the transport and logistics industry is one of the engines of development.

“The dynamic development of this area is a strategic task. The share of the transport and logistics sector in the structure of GDP over the next three years should reach at least 9%,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized, adding that at the end of last year, the industry’s share in GDP was 6.2%.

To achieve this goal, Kazakhstan intends to implement several transport projects in the near future.

Railway

So, in particular, the expansion of the Dostyk-Moyynty line is already underway on the railway; it is planned to build new sections of Bakhty-Ayagoz for communication with China and Darbaza-Maktaaral to increase capacity on the border of Kazakhstan with Uzbekistan. In addition, a bypass railway should be built around Almaty.

Trans-Caspian route

As for logistics corridors, one of the main ones should be the Trans-Caspian route, which will allow cargo to be delivered to Europe directly from China without entering Russian territory.

According to the President of Kazakhstan, “in the medium term, traffic volumes along this corridor can be increased fivefold.” However, for this it is necessary to join forces with partner countries - China, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, the head of state emphasized.

At the same time, certain agreements have already been reached with Azerbaijan and Georgia. Previously, the three countries signed an agreement to create a joint logistics company specifically to service transportation along the Trans-Caspian route.

In addition, as part of cooperation with other states, the construction of Kazakh terminals has already begun in the Chinese Xi'an and the Georgian port of Poti.

North-South corridor

At the same time, another access to the sea (namely, to the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean) for Kazakhstan is the North-South transport corridor.

“It is necessary to gradually double the capacity of the railway part of this route. First of all, it is necessary to begin modernizing the Kazakh section of the Bolashak-Chelyabinsk railway line,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed.

At the same time, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (Kazakhstan Railways), according to the president, should be transformed into a full-fledged transport and logistics company as soon as possible.

Marine and offshore infrastructure

In general, in the near future, not only the railway, but also the maritime, aviation and automobile infrastructure will develop in the republic.

“We need a holistic plan for the development of maritime infrastructure, in which a separate role should be given to the port of Kuryk. It will have to become a full-fledged logistics cluster, like Aktau,” noted the President of Kazakhstan.

At the same time, a large container hub will be built in Aktau itself.

A large-scale project should also be implemented on the land border with China: a new “dry port” will be created in the area of the Bakhty checkpoint, which will contribute to the further growth of cargo turnover directly between China and Kazakhstan, and will also attract transit flows here.

Aviation infrastructure

As Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized, the republic’s airports must also fulfill their logistics function.

“For effective integration into international routes, it is important to provide a full range of logistics services. The airports of Astana, Almaty, Shymkent and Aktobe should become multimodal centers providing competitive and high-quality services for the accumulation and distribution of cargo,” said the head of state.

This, he said, will require adequate tariff and regulatory policies and active attraction of private investment.

Car roads

As can be understood from the speech of the President of Kazakhstan, this area is the weakest in the republic, since the quality of the roads “does not stand up to criticism.”

“Untimely and poor-quality work, high levels of corruption, low competition are “birth defects” of this industry. Therefore, concrete measures should be taken before the end of the year,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized.

Thus, in particular, he instructed to strengthen control over the construction of highways and adopt the necessary regulations so that all unscrupulous companies can be held accountable.

The President will pay special attention to this issue.

In general, by 2029, Kazakhstan should carry out high-quality reconstruction of more than 4 thousand km of roads.