a meeting of representatives of the railway administrations of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye was held in Tashkent on the development of freight transportation along the CASCA+ transport corridor.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of large exporting enterprises, in particular, Uzkimyoimpex, Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant, UzAvtoSanoat JSC, Tashkent Pipe Plant and others.
During the meeting, the parties discussed projects that should be implemented in order to develop the CASCA+ transport corridor. During the discussion, Uzbekistan Temir Yollari JSC put forward a proposal to create a consortium to coordinate the activities of the CASCA+ transport corridor, where representatives of all railway administrations supported this initiative and showed their readiness to provide specialists for the consortium in order to further actively develop this transport corridor.
In addition, it was proposed to establish transportation of perishable goods (fruits and vegetables) in refrigerated containers along the CASCA+ corridor and create an online monitoring system for the location (dislocation) of wagons and containers moving along the corridor, as well as develop the activity of the corridor website. It should be especially emphasized that on 18 March 2024, at a video conference meeting on increasing investments and exports in the agriculture and food industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev drew attention to the importance of developing refrigerated containers for the transportation of perishable products.
CASCA+ is a joint initiative of the state railways of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan. Currently, this route covers three regions – Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan), the South Caucasus (Azerbaijan and Georgia), and Anatolia (Türkiye). The “+” sign in the name of the route indicates a willingness to accept new potential participants interested in transportation along the route, the ultimate goal of which is to connect the states of Southeast Asia, in particular China, with Europe.
