Deputy trade minister Asset Nussupov says obstacles need to be cleared for ‘Middle Corridor’ trade route to flourish
While Kazakhstan is cooperating closely with China on the digitalisation of trade, a government official from the Central Asian country said this week that more infrastructure investment is needed – including along the Middle Corridor trade route – for it to realise its aim of becoming a bridge between Asia and Europe.
“One of the bottlenecks is the difference in procedures like customs and logistics – all these things have been making obstacles on the way for goods going from China to Europe and on the way back,” Asset Nussupov, Kazakhstan’s vice-minister of trade and integration, said in an interview on Monday.
“The Middle Corridor is a good opportunity to realise our transit potential – we’re working closely on construction,” he said, citing work on a route from western Kazakhstan to Pakistani seaports via the Caspian Sea.
Quoting from a recent World Bank report, Nussupov said that by 2030, trade volumes along the Middle Corridor – particularly the section crossing the Caspian Sea – were expected to be triple the level seen four years ago. The predicted increase translates to around 11 million tonnes a year, including roughly 4 million tonnes of containerised cargo.
