Kazakhstani FM proposes to create a railway consortium of Central Asian countries

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov proposed the creation of a consortium of Central Asian countries to connect railway routes.

This initiative was expressed during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in the framework of the dialogue India-Central Asia in Samarkand.

“In order to increase the transit transport potential of the region, the idea of creating a consortium with the participation of all Central Asian countries to connect the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran and Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran railways with the port of Chabahar was announced for the transportation of goods in the direction of Central Asia – India,” the Uzbek MFA noted.

The Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan also noted the need to give impetus to the growth of the economies of Central Asian countries.

According to Kazakhstani FM, there is a possibility of implementing joint projects with India in the field of medicine, pharmaceuticals, new technologies and finance using the opportunities created by the International Technopark of IT startups Astana Hub and the International Financial Center Astana.

Following the meeting, a joint statement was adopted by the foreign ministers of the countries participating in the dialogue.