Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan have agreed to jointly develop transit and transport infrastructure in Afghanistan.
Competitive tariff conditions are being created for this purpose, which will allow for the accelerated passage of container trains from China through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Afghanistan and further to Pakistan, India, and countries in the Middle East, according to the press service of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.
According to preliminary calculations, the delivery time of goods via the accelerated route from Xian/Urumqi (China) to Afghanistan (Turgundi and Andkhoy) will be reduced to 10-12 days.
This agreement was reached during a trilateral meeting in Kabul by Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumaғarin, Director General of the Transport and Communications Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of TurkmenistanMammetkhan Chakyev, and Minister of Trade and Industry of AfghanistanNuriddin Azizi.
The use of the new transit route will enable Afghanistan to ensure uninterrupted supply of Chinese goods to the western part of the country and significantly reduce costs for delivering goods compared to other modes of transport.
Afghan businesses are encouraged to utilize the opportunities of the Kazakh terminal in the Suho Port of Xian for consolidating the most in-demand goods into container trains and direct delivery of consumer goods: solar panels, diesel generators, mobile phones, office equipment, and others.
It is noted that the eastern branch of the international North-South transport corridor is becoming a key route for transporting goods from Russia and Belarus through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, India, and countries in the Middle East.
In early April, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan explained why it is not advantageous for Kazakhstan to cease cooperation with Afghanistan.
