The forum was attended by the First Deputy Minister of Trade of Pakistan Ahsan Ali Mangi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Republic of Uzbekistan Ahmad Faruk, First Deputy Minister of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan Mamanbiy Omarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Uzbekistan Temir Yollari JSC Khikmatulla Rakhmetov, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC Russian Railways Alexey Pavlov, representatives of government agencies, freight forwarding companies and business circles.
The forum discussed issues of creating favorable conditions for bilateral and transit cargo transportation through the multimodal transport corridor “Uzbekistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan”, jointly eliminating existing barriers and strengthening mutually beneficial strategic cooperation.
It should be noted that today the Commonwealth of Independent States states are showing great interest in redirecting cargo flows from traditional transport corridors through the multimodal transport corridor “Uzbekistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan”. According to statistics, in 2023, the volume of cargo transportation along this corridor increased by 1.5 times compared to 2021.
At the forum, First Deputy Minister of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan Mamanbiy Omarov emphasized the importance of systematic use of the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan transport corridor, and not as an alternative transport corridor. In this direction, it is necessary to unite the efforts of the parties and develop common approaches, said M. Omarov.
During the forum, First Deputy Minister of Transport Mamanbiy Omarov put forward the following proposals for the development of the Uzbekistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan transport corridor:
-Reduce the fees levied on freight transport and establish them on a parity basis within the territory of each state;
_Development of a mechanism for insuring cargo along the route and establishing insurance fees based on international experience;
-Development of a specific mechanism to ensure the safety of goods during transportation;
_Reducing the number of loading and unloading operations during transportation;
-Development of a regulatory document to establish clear routes for the transportation of heavy and oversized cargo along the route and the organization of these transportations;
-Widespread introduction of digitization in the cargo transportation process;
-Organizing joint research and developing proposals to increase the capacity of the Salang Pass, which is the “heart” of this transport corridor.
Source: www.mintrans.uz