China and strengthening relations with Turkiye more about these events in our November 2024 logistics news digest.
Kyrgyz President Akylbek Zhaparov met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Head of Kazakhstan once again drew attention to the positive effect of the abolition of the requirement for permits for cargo carriers between Turkiye and Kyrgyzstan. This greatly simplified the transportation of goods between the two countries.
The President noted that in today's world, the new role and importance of transport routes are becoming especially noticeable. Thus, the China Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line will unite about 4 billion people and expand the geography of cargo transportation from Asia to Europe, Turkiye, the Middle East, Iran, as well as to Arab countries and North Africa.
"Turkiye's economy is 70 times bigger than ours. Turkiye is a large and very promising partner for Kyrgyzstan, and now this country is one of the largest investors in the economy of Kazakhstan. However, there is still a great unrealized potential for cooperation, both investment and trade and economic. Realizing this, the President of Kyrgyzstan meets with his Turkish counterpart every year. The attention to cooperation from the top officials of the state is bearing fruit: trade turnover between the countries is growing. Thus, at the November meeting, the Turkish president announced his intention to increase the volume of trade turnover from $2 billion to $5 billion. These initiatives will also contribute to the expansion of cargo transportation between our countries," comments Emirlan Beyilbayev, Director of the Kyrgyz representative Office of the International Freight Exchange.
In January-October 2024, the volume of road cargo transportation in Kyrgyzstan increased by 7.5% compared to the same period in 2023, the National Statistical Committee reported. Over the ten months of this year, 35.8 million tonnes of cargo were transported by road. At the same time, road freight transportation accounted for 82.5% of the total structure of freight transportation by all modes of transport.
Logistics in Kyrgyzstan is developing more dynamically than in the EAEU as a whole. Thus, according to the Eurasian Economic Commission, cargo transportation in the Union from January to September 2024 showed a symbolic increase of 0.5%, and in Kyrgyzstan it increased by 6.2%. For comparison, cargo transportation in Belarus increased by 2.6%, in Kazakhstan by 0.9%, and in Russia by 0.4%.
"The positive situation in Kyrgyzstan is influenced by a combination of factors from the accelerated development of online commerce to the growth of exports and industrial production (+4.2% in the third quarter). And another important indicator for the market: according to the Partnership for Transport and Logistics in Central Asia for 2023, the average waiting time for goods at Kyrgyz checkpoints is the minimum among all EAEU countries: 20 minutes for all goods and only 10 minutes for perishable products. For comparison, in Kazakhstan, the waiting time at the checkpoint for perishable products is 1 hour and 50 minutes, and the rest is 2 days and 8 hours. This is another factor in favour of Kyrgyz logistics," Emirlan Beyilbayev comments.
The Atbashi international trade and logistics centre is being built on the border of Kyrgyzstan and China, in the At-Bashinsky district of the Naryn region. The aim of the project is to strengthen economic ties between Central Asia and international markets, as well as to become a key element of trans-Eurasian trade. The Atbashi Centre will become part of the Naryn Free Economic Zone (FEZ).
It is expected that the centre will be able to increase the capacity of the Atbashi border crossing and become a powerful engine for the economic development of the region.
The new complex will include warehouse and exhibition and retail areas, cargo terminals, offices, hotels, catering areas, gas stations and many other infrastructure facilities. It is also planned to create production facilities focused on exports to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, the European Union and the World Trade Organisation.
"Kyrgyzstan is very short of such facilities because of this, the country cannot fully utilize its transport, logistics and transit potential. The Atbashi centre on the border with China will multiply the prospects for international trade and become a "gateway" to Asian markets. China is already Kyrgyzstan's largest trading partner. In 2023, the volume of bilateral trade increased by 30%, reaching $19.8 billion. From January to July 2024, the volume of mutual trade amounted to $11 billion. The trade turnover will continue to increase due to the implementation of such infrastructure initiatives," Emirlan Beyilbayev believes.
Reported by Economist.kg (Kyrgyzstan).
