On April 27, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin, Director General of the Agency of Transport and Communications of Turkmenistan Mammetkhan Chakiyev, and Minister of Trade and Industry of the Afghan Taliban government Nuriddin Azizi met in Kabul.
During negotiations, an agreement was made to develop more favourable and competitive tariffs for the passage of container trains from China through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, and further afield to Pakistan, India, and Middle Eastern countries.
To support the initiative, Afghan businesses have been invited to use the Kazakh terminal in China’s Xi’an Dry Port to consolidate goods for transport by rail.
According to preliminary calculations, the delivery time for goods via the accelerated, uninterrupted route from Xi’an/Urumqi in China to Turgundi and Andkhoy in Afghanistan will be reduced to just 10-12 days, at a cost significantly cheaper than alternative modes of transport.
Since the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Afghanistan route could also be used for transporting goods from Russia and Belarus to India and the Middle East, it provides added impetus for the development of the North-South transport corridor.