At a tripartite meeting held in Tbilisi, in which the Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, the Ministers of Economy and Sustainable Development, Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Turkey participated, the development of the transport corridor of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey and the increase in competitiveness were discussed.
The participants of the meeting noted that the importance of the transit-transport corridor connecting Asia and Europe and the question of its development is increasing in the light of the recent political-economic events, it is becoming one of the most attractive routes connecting the East and the West.
"The cooperation of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the transit, transport and logistics direction is very important. Concrete decisions were made at the meeting, which will certainly contribute to the competitiveness of the corridor in the medium and long term. We have discussed the current, specific problems and solutions have been drawn up in order to speed up cargo turnover, which will allow us to transport even more cargo using the infrastructure of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and finally, to create a real alternative to the existing transit and transport routes," said the Minister of Georgia. Vice Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili.
Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaysmailoglu spoke about the importance of the tripartite meeting by stressing that the more transport corridors connecting our countries, the stronger the friendly relations between the three countries will be. As he notes, today the so-called is very important for the whole world. The Middle Corridor and therefore it is also very important to develop both the Middle Corridor and the continuous transport corridor from China to London.
"This is made possible by existing projects, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the Marmara crossing in Istanbul, and through these projects it will be possible for cargo from China to reach London in a non-peak mode. This is a very important project both for the region and for the whole world, the trade volume of 800 billion should be utilized, it should not be lost, it should be redistributed to other transport corridors. Therefore, this corridor is very important. It should be noted that we are talking about cargo transportation, but it is important that in the future, along with cargo transportation, passenger transportation will also start," said the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey.
At the meeting, the ministers discussed the current situation, prospects and directions for further development, and made decisions involving the increase of railway transportation between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and the timely completion of the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars new railway project. The parties noted that the interest in the Middle Corridor has increased. Thus, in January-June 2022, 15 percent more cargo was transported through the corridor than last year's corresponding period. It was noted that the demand for the North-West Corridor increased almost three times compared to the corresponding period of the last year.
The Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan speaks about the increased international interest in the Middle Corridor. According to Rashad Nabiyev, due to the tough geopolitical situation in the world, the demand and interest in the Middle Corridor is increasing. “Our bilateral meeting with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili was also fruitful. Especially we discussed establishing block train between Poti, and Batumi ports and Alat port, aligning schedules and determining single prices,” said the Azerbaijani minister.
Earlier, Caucasus Watch reported that within the framework of the meeting of the Trilateral Committee on Customs Issues between the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey held in Baku on August 18, "The Agreement between the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey on preliminary information exchange for the facilitation of transit customs procedures within the framework of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project" was signed.
