Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan have signed the Ashgabat declaration to create the Trans-Caspian transport corridor from Beijing to London, Turkey’s Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan reported.
Arslan said the document was signed during the first meeting of transportation ministers of the three countries. The declaration was inked by Ahmet Arslan, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Transportation Arif Asgarov and Turkmen Minister of Motor Transport Maksat Aydogdyev.
“Production [of various commodities] is shifting from the West to the East. There is a need in an efficient transportation corridor for supplying the commodities produced in Asia and in our region to the West”, said Arslan. “The projects that we have been implementing in the country since 2003 pursue exactly this goal”.
“By planning such projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the construction of the third airport, and others, Turkey intends to integrate international projects to the national plan of development of the transportation sector”, Arslan added.
“The Ashgabat declaration, signed in Turkmenistan, enables us to be one step closer to our goal”, he said.
The Trans-Caspian international transportation route runs from China to Europe through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine.
The first test container train from China arrived at the Baku International Sea Trade Port on August 3, 2015.
New competitive tariffs on the Trans-Caspian corridor came into effect on June 1. (Trend/Business World Magazine)