TRACECA Sec.-Gen.: Central Asia needs new transport corridors to access external markets

The states of the Central Asian region are experiencing a need to establish new transport corridors to ensure access to foreign markets, Secretary General of the Permanent Secretariat of the TRACECA Intergovernmental Commission, Jasurbek Choriev, said during the session "Seamless Eurasia: A Logistics Hub at the Crossroads of Continents" at the Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), Report informs.

He noted that in each of the Central Asian states, whose development TRACECA monitors and discusses, significant indicators are observed, both in terms of GDP growth and population increase, as well as in terms of the volume of investments directed into the region.

"This, of course, creates additional value, produces new goods, and objectively requires us to search for new markets. For us, these markets are open in all directions: we go north, south, west, and we want to have the ability to access them easily and with minimal costs.

To achieve this, of course, governments, regional associations, and, most importantly, development banks and international financial institutions (IFIs) must create new corridors and opportunities. They can truly help us unite these aspirations so that governments look at the situation not only from their own perspective but also help, first and foremost, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in the transport sector, and then bring large corporations into the discussion as well," Choriev stated.