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Uzbekistan predicted the future of the key transport hub of Eurasia
Uzbekistan is turning into one of the main transport and logistics centers of Eurasia, said Alexey Skatin, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB). According to him, the republic is becoming the intersection point of the largest railway routes East-West and North-South.
At the panel session “Transformation of the railway sector and the development of new logistics corridors in Central Asia,” which was held as part of the Tashkent International Investment Forum, Skatin noted that strategically important routes pass through the territory of Uzbekistan: the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan corridor under construction, the Trans-Afghan route and the Tashkent-Samarkand high-speed highway.
Additional opportunities will be created by the completion of the construction of the Darbaza-Maktaaral line in Kazakhstan and a new border crossing, which will integrate the country into the Trans-Caspian international transport route.
“Uzbekistan, from a landlocked country, is becoming a crossroads of East-West and North-South routes. It is the combination of these routes that makes it a crossing point, and not a transit episode,” Skatin emphasized.
However, the development of transport corridors is impossible without modern logistics infrastructure. The EDB believes that the growth of cargo flows will require a large-scale expansion of warehouse capacities and the construction of dry ports and container terminals. According to the bank`s estimates, demand for warehouse space in Uzbekistan could increase more than sevenfold.
Currently, the provision of such facilities remains relatively low, which opens up significant potential for investment. Skatin noted that transport infrastructure and logistics facilities should develop in parallel.
The EDB intends to help unlock the investment potential of transport projects in Central Asia. To analyze promising areas, the bank uses the EDB Transport Projects Observatory, a special information and analytical platform that allows it to evaluate existing investments, identify infrastructure gaps and identify future growth areas.
According to the Observatory, about 400 transport projects worth a total of $340 billion are being implemented in Eurasia. Central Asia accounts for 114 projects with a total investment volume of $71.8 billion, which is about 21% of total investments. At the same time, almost 30% of the region’s investments, or about $22 billion, are directed to the development of railway infrastructure.
Uzbekistan occupies a special place in this system. Five of the ten largest transport projects in Central Asia are being implemented here, three of them are related to the development of railway corridors.
According to EDB forecasts, by 2030 the volume of cargo transportation in Central Asia will increase by one and a half times compared to 2024 and will reach 95 million tons. Container traffic could grow by 67% to 1.7 million TEU. Such indicators are associated with the development of the Eurasian transport framework and the implementation of new international transport routes.
Among the most promising projects for Uzbekistan, the bank highlights the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan corridor, which will open direct container connections with China and increase the volume of traffic fivefold, the Trans-Afghan route, which gives access to Pakistani ports and shortens the route by a thousand kilometers, as well as the first dedicated high-speed highway in Central Asia, Tashkent-Samarkand, which will relieve the existing line for freight traffic.
Previously Chief Economist of the EDBvoicedmacroeconomic forecast, according to which the economy of Uzbekistan can more than double by the beginning of the new decade.
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