Start. 16 Mayıs 2022
End. 24 Mayıs 2022
Between 17 May and 24 May 2022, a Road Show / Study Tour was organized on opportunities to increase trade along the Central Corridor route via the Caspian and Black Sea ports. The full name of the event, realized with the support of USAID, is "Opportunities to Increase Trade Along the Central Asia-European Union Route via the Caspian and Black Sea Ports".
This study tour (Road Show/Study Tour) was organized by the TRACECA Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) Permanent Secretariat and the Central Asia Transport and Logistics Partnership with participants from the relevant institutions of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Türkiye, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Central Asia. It was initiated in close cooperation with the support of the Trade Program and Kazakhstan Transport Workers' Union “Kaz Logistics”. TRACECA Türkiye National Secretariat Specialist Uğur Bitiktaş from Turkey, Maritime Specialist Hıdır İlyas Karabıyık from the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs and Engineer Kahraman from TCDD AŞ participated in the tour in question.
The main purpose of the study tour was to increase the transportation possibilities along the TRACECA corridor routes, to discuss the problematic issues and to discuss the solutions to be developed with the authorized bodies of the countries. During the event, the participants had the opportunity to discuss many issues related to multimodal transport on the Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Türkiye-Bulgaria route.
During the Study Tour, briefings were held on Kazakhstan (Aktau), Azerbaijan (Baku) and Georgia (Tbilisi) multi-modal transportation and logistics infrastructure. In addition, the participants examined the capacities of Kuryk, Alyat, Batum, Sarpi ports located on the Georgia-Türkiye border. They were briefed on secretarial activities and the implementation of priority TRACECA initiatives.
At the end of the tour, the Closing Meeting was held on 23 May in Batumi regarding the transports along the TRACECA corridor.
TOUR PROGRAM
- On May 17, 2022, with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a conference called "On Prospects for the Development of International Road Transport in Kazakhstan" was held, which brought together more than 50 participants from Kazakhstan. The meeting was attended by the representatives of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan state institutions and organizations, ports and shipping companies, as well as road transporters and embassies of Great Britain, USA, Finland and France. During the conference, D.Kaspabaev, Deputy Chairman of the Transport Committee of the Ministry, S. Akhmetov, Director General of Kuryk Port LLP, and V. Kingushanov, Deputy Head of "Kuryk" Customs Post, made a presentation answering all relevant questions to the participants regarding border crossing procedures and other formalities required for transportation. . The results of a study on "Increasing the competitiveness of Central Asian Caspian Ports with access to European markets" (2021) were also presented at the conferences.
On the same day, the conference participants visited the port of Kuryk to get information about the infrastructure of the port and the registration process at the port. As of 2022, the maximum capacity of the port is 30,000 vehicles per year. At the end of 2021, 16,230 vehicles, which corresponds to more than half of its current capacity, passed through the port in the direction of Baku port.
In the first quarter of 2022, 4,098 units were also reported to have been transported.
- On May 18, 2022, Conference participants arrived in Baku. Within the scope of the tour, the International Maritime Trade Port was visited and information was obtained about the port infrastructure and customs procedures at the port. The maximum capacity of the port today is 60,000 vehicles per year, and by the end of 2021, 39,431 vehicles have passed through the port. This indicates the need to increase additional port capacity (23,476 of them to/from Turkmenistan).
- On May 19, 2022, with the support of the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the conference "On Prospects for the Development of International Road Transport in Azerbaijan" was held. In this conference, information was given on the results of the study on "Increasing the Competitiveness of Central Asian Caspian Ports with Access to European Markets (2021)".
- On May 20, 2022, with the support of the Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Conference "On Development Prospects of International Road Transport in Georgia" was held with the participation of the Georgian Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development. The Georgian customs representative noted that the average transit time in transit traffic is about 4 minutes, and this is an indicator value that all countries in the Caucasus and Central Asian region should strive for.
- On May 22, 2022, Conference participants visited Batumi Sea Port to get information about the port infrastructure and customs procedures at the port. The maximum capacity of the port today is 250,000 vehicles per year. Although 10,723 vehicles passed through the port at the end of 2021, it was stated that this created great opportunities for the transportation of goods from the port with trucks.
Conference participants were also informed about the activities of the Sarpi/Sarp Customs Checkpoint on the border of Georgia and Türkiye, where they were informed about the rapid border crossing and efficient organization of the document processing process. A presentation on "Sarp Customs Pass" was also given to the participants by Yener Yazırel, Expert at the Ministry of Commerce at the Sarp Customs Gate Administration of the Republic of Türkiye. It is added to the notes that more than 440,000 vehicles passed through this checkpoint in 2021.
- On May 23, 2022, with the presentations of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Türkiye, a conference titled "On Prospects for the Development of International Road Transport Along TRACECA" was held, Bulgarian State Enterprise Port Infrastructure General Manager A. Natova, Turkey Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Maritime Expert İlyas Karabıyık, Burgas Port representatives R. Ivanov and Customs President made presentations. TLP President L. Kislyakova briefed the participants on the results of a clear analysis of the cost and time of freight transport from Central Asian countries via the Caspian Sea, and the study, based on the carriers survey.
The tour ended with the Closing Meeting held in Batumi on 23 May.
