Turkmenistan to hold forum on transport communications in Caspian region and Central Asia

Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, April 14 / Trend, H. Hasanov / Turkmenistan is scheduled to hold International Conference "Prospects of development of transport and transit communications in the region of Caspian Sea and Central Asia" on May 16, an official Turkmen source said on Saturday. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov signed the relevant document and ordered to organize and host an event at a high organizational level. In recent years, Turkmenistan emphasizes the integration of maritime traffic and intensifying external economic relations with the Caspian countries. To this end, fundamental upgrading of the international sea port city of Turkmenbashi, designed to become a major hub of international transit and transport communications passing through Turkmenistan, is about to take place. The Caspian Sea washes along the coast of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan. Dozens of the world's major companies have already expressed their desire to participate in the reconstruction and technical upgrading of Turkmenbashi sea harbor, construction of sea terminals on the coast with the multifunctional dry cargo and ferry berths capable of vessels of any type and handling capacity, accordingly, with warehouses for processing and storage of transit goods and fulfillment of export-import operations. In addition to this, Turkmenistan jointly with Iran and Kazakhstan works on a project for the construction of the railway corridor through Iran to gain access to the Gulf states. The new railway of New Uzen (Kazakhstan) Bereket - Etrek (Turkmenistan) - Gurgen (Iran) will provide the European and Asian countries with a convenient, economical way to South Asia, to the Persian Gulf ports, as well as to the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe. This path is three times shorter than the Suez Canal. According to preliminary calculations, the annual traffic volume of own and transit cargo will amount to 10-12 million tons. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az