'Middle Corridor' Will Be Strengthened Through Development

Underlining that the Central Corridor, which serves as an important land and water bridge between the East and the West, carries the promise of a unique economic growth for the Central Asian and Caucasus countries and even for the Middle Eastern countries, Uraloğlu said, “The World Bank study we talked about today, strategic policies, targeted “It highlights the power of investments and cooperation efforts to triple trade volumes and halve transit times in the Central Corridor by 2030.” he said.

DECISIVE ACTIONS ARE REQUIRED TO REALIZE THE MIDDLE CORRIDOR POTENTIAL.”

Stating that decisive actions are essential to fully realize the trade and logistics potential in the Middle Corridor, Minister Uraloğlu said that this study will shed light on prioritizing the steps that need to be taken.

Stating that Turkey's railway infrastructure is sufficient to meet the current demand, Minister Uraloğlu said, “We have not encountered any capacity problems in the shipment of the cargo coming from the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line to Edirne. Our national carrier, TCDD Transportation, ensures that the vehicles towing and being towed in Kars are always ready to meet the freight flow coming from the east. "Contrary to the evaluation, I would like to point out that there is a freight flow below the infrastructure and vehicle supply in the west of Kars," he said.

“Minister Uraloğlu also said that they discussed measures that will increase the capacity of the Central Corridor and eliminate bottlenecks.

Minister Uraloğlu said, "It will be possible to remove obstacles by reaching a common understanding" and explained that there is already a sufficient platform to ensure close coordination along the corridor. Minister Uraloğlu underlined that in terms of facilitating the methods and procedures, a common understanding should be reached on the necessity of leaving behind some administrative procedures in order for the transit cargo to reach its destination without encountering obstacles as much as possible.

Stating that they aim to increase the share of railway freight transportation to 22 percent, Minister Uraloğlu explained that, “In line with our 2053 vision, they aim to provide more transportation infrastructure and increase transportation connectivity for the increasing trade between Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

NEW LINE WITH DEVELOPMENT PATH

Uraloğlu stated that planning continues not only on the east-west route but also on the north-south axis, and said, “The Development Road Project, which will connect the Persian Gulf to Europe and Central Asia via Turkey, is of great importance. This new route will provide significant convenience for cargo in the region to access Europe and Central Asia. This new route, called the development road, includes the construction of approximately 1.200 kilometers of double-track railway and highway on the Iraqi side. On the Turkish side, we have completed the necessary technical work to connect it to our national railway and highway network with approximately 130 kilometers of railway and 300 kilometers of highway. The Development Path has a significant potential in terms of diversifying mutual trade between Middle Eastern countries and Central Corridor countries and being a supportive and complementary initiative to access new markets. As can be seen, we plan the necessary capacity increases according to the expected load volume and start working on them. As Türkiye, we attach great importance to regional planning and regulations. Regional collaborations are needed for the effective use of investments in the transportation sector.” he said.