Construction of Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway may cost 5-7 billion dollars

On September 13, an international conference entitled “International road transport: towards sustainable development and prosperity” was held in Tashkent. Representatives of 11 international organizations and 93 delegations from 29 countries took part in it. Problems arising in international cargo transportation, logistics issues were discussed.

Within the framework of the event, Abdusamad Muminov, the head of the department of the Ministry of Transport, said in response to the journalists’ question, that now efforts are underway to find money for the implementation of the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway project.

“Today, we have 6-7 routes for the development of foreign trade, export and import goods of Uzbekistan to the outside world. In addition, as an alternative option, we are using the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan multimodal corridor.

Agreements were reached during the president's visit to Xi'an in May. Then the preliminary technical and economic basis for the construction of the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway was prepared. Fundraising for this project is currently underway. Also, the terms of managing this project are being negotiated,” Abdusamad Muminov said.

According to the representative of the Ministry, the cost of the project is estimated at 5-7 billion dollars. It is planned to transport 8-10 million tons of cargo, especially transit cargo, on the railway under construction.

Speaking about the Termiz – Mazar-i-Sharif – Kabul – Peshawar railway project, Muminov noted that multimodal transportation has been launched in this direction today, and the volume of goods entering Uzbekistan through the territory of Afghanistan has increased several times.

“The project is in the initial stage, a preliminary technical assignment is being prepared for us to prepare the technical and economic basis. For this, 3 parties are trying to attract money to the project,” he said.

The fact that no country recognizes the Taliban government makes it difficult to attract international financial organizations to the project.

“It is true that the World Bank may not provide money for the project, but there are other international financial institutions. For example, there are Asian development and Islamic development banks. They are currently being worked on,” an official of the Ministry of Transport said.
Earlier, the construction of the 600 km long Trans-Afghan railway was estimated at 4.8 billion dollars. Work on the project was halted when the Taliban came to power, but by July 2022, expeditionary work had begun to determine the route and feasibility of the railway.

Access to China through Kyrgyzstan and to Pakistani ports through Afghanistan is of strategic importance for Uzbekistan.

“Imagine, God willing, these days will come anyway, if two railways are built, how stable our economy will be. We are not dependent on anyone. If we have these two big railways, we will also become a country that will benefit from the tariff,” President Shavkat Mirziyoyev explained the importance of these two transit corridors in his speech last month.

Truck drivers are being trained by European partners

According to the conference on September 13, the volume of import and export of products of Uzbekistan is increasing by 15-20% every year. The most convenient means of transporting them internationally is a car. That’s why trucks work on a door-to-door basis unlike other vehicles.

The representative of the Ministry of Transport, Abdusamat Muminov, said that in this process, the level of knowledge of international cargo carriers, that is, car drivers, is also important.

“A driver is not a person who gets into a car and drives, but a person who knows international transportation. Because it enters 4-5 countries and crosses the borders of these countries. After all, these countries have their own transport system, paperwork, prohibitions and permits. In general, the driver must be alert and aware of international transportation.

Today, we are working on a big project in Uzbekistan together with the Ministry of Transport, the Association of International Cargo Carriers of Uzbekistan, and the countries of Latvia and Lithuania. Currently, we have trained 100 people in Uzbekistan, and we are sending them to Europe for internships. When they return from a good education, they can work in Uzbekistan, and if they get married, they can stay in Europe. We are also thinking of such plans.

Roughly speaking, their monthly salary will not be 200-300 dollars, drivers earn at least 1.5 or 2 thousand euros. This money will not stay in Europe, but will come to Uzbekistan. In the future, for such a big project, we want to increase the number of training centers and train our own young people.

Current carriers are at least paid a thousand dollars a month. But their suffering is great. Because cars stay at border customs posts for 3-5 days, and 10 days on the same day. If the transported cargo is expensive or nauseating, the car should always be on. It’s not easy. That is why we are promoting it mainly among young people, not adults. For example, at the borders of Bukhara, many young people intend to work as drivers, and are even working,” Muminov said.