China News Service, Beijing, September 22 (Reporter Liu Wenwen) A high-level meeting on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor was held in Beijing on the 22nd.
This conference is hosted by the Ministry of Transport of China and hosted by the China International Sustainable Transportation Innovation and Knowledge Center. More than 200 people attended the meeting, including deputy prime ministers of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, as well as representatives from transportation authorities and embassies and consulates of countries along the Trans-Caspian Sea, including China, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as representatives of relevant international organizations and enterprises.
The meeting pointed out that the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor is an important channel connecting the Eurasian continent and an important component of the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road". It has important strategic significance for deepening regional economic and trade cooperation and ensuring the stability of global industrial and supply chains. In recent years, with the joint efforts of countries along the route, the connectivity of corridor infrastructure, the docking of rules and standards, and the level of channel transportation services have continued to improve. In the first seven months of this year, the number of trans-Caspian China-Europe trains and the direct freight volume of China-Europe highways increased by more than 60% and 70% year-on-year respectively, effectively driving the industrial agglomeration and improvement of people's livelihood along the route.
The meeting emphasized that the current Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor still has shortcomings in terms of railways, highways, ports and customs clearance facilitation. Under the impact of profound changes in the global geopolitical landscape and fluctuations in the international logistics supply chain, it is urgent to further strengthen the role of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor in regional and global connectivity, improve the energy efficiency of the corridor, maintain smoothness, and promote high-quality development of the corridor. All parties participating in the meeting unanimously expressed their willingness to use this meeting as an opportunity to continue to deepen policy coordination and practical cooperation, and jointly build the Trans-Caspian Corridor into a safe, efficient, smart and green international transportation corridor in the Eurasian continent.
The meeting jointly issued the "Initiative to Promote Capacity Expansion and Efficiency Improvement of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor" in the name of the transportation authorities of the participating countries, emphasizing that countries along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor should deepen policy coordination, strengthen coordination of policies and regulatory measures in the fields of convenient transportation, cross-border connectivity, port access, etc., and promote standard compatibility; they should strengthen facility connectivity and promote the construction and improvement of infrastructure along the route. Build and upgrade, encourage enterprises to actively participate in infrastructure upgrades; improve transportation efficiency, develop multimodal transport, promote advanced transportation organization models, and reduce full logistics costs; optimize the transportation environment, improve customs clearance efficiency, and promote digitalization; strengthen cultural exchanges and jointly carry out exchange and cooperation projects; improve cooperation mechanisms, study and establish relevant conference mechanisms, and encourage enterprises to carry out multi-level cooperation.
