An economic observer Valentin Trapeznikov stated that thanks to the wise and far-sighted policy of President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the country has become the main supporting mechanism of the West-East and North-South transport and transit corridors. This contributes to boosting the domestic transport sector and creating a multimodal system to transport goods and passengers, CentralAsia.news reported.
Economic indicators
The importance of the transport and communications sectors is vividly illustrated by its share in Turkmenistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) that fluctuated between 8.8-10.7% in 2020-2023 and the first half of 2024.
In the reported period, the GDP growth rate stood at 5.9-6.3%, while the growth rate of the gross added value of the transport sector was higher than the specified indicators, reaching 7.3-8.4%.
The growth in Turkmenistan’s transport is supported by the active investment policy. In the abovementioned period, the share of investment in this sector stood at 6.0-11.2% of the total volume. Furthermore, annual capital investment in the sector has risen almost 6 times since 2017.
In the first half of the year, the annual investment target is achieved ahead of schedule. The Turkmenawtoulaglar Agency surpassed the investment target by 3.1 times and the Turkmenaragatnaşyk Agency by 113.4%.
Other economic indicators are growing as well. In the first half of the year, the growth rate of works and services stood at 116.8%, freight transportation – 105% and passenger transportation – 103.4%.
The specialised agencies of Turkmenistan’s transport sector demonstrated the increased growth rate of services: Turkmendemiryollary – 105.1%, Turkmenawtoulaglar – 110%, Turkmenhowayollary – 149.4%, Turkmendeňizderyayollary – 109.7% and Turkmenaragatnaşyk – 112.7%.
Automotive transport projects
The active investment policy enables Turkmenistan to implement large-scale transport and communications projects. In particular, the country is building highways, including roads of international importance.
A bright example is the construction of autobahns. The Ashgabat-Tejen section of the Ashgabat-Turkmenabat highway was put into operation in October 2021. The opening ceremony of the Tejen-Mary section took place in April this year.
The commissioning of the Mary-Turkmenabat section and the construction of the Ashgabat-Turkmenbashi highway will significantly increase throughput of the national transport system and improve the quality of logistics services. Along with highways of international and national importance, the construction of highways in the regions of the country is intensively underway.
Many large-scale projects in Turkmenistan’s rail transport have been implemented, including the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran transnational railway and the railways Kerki-Ymamnazar-Akina, Serhetabat-Turghundi, Ashgabat-Dashoguz and Zerger-Kerki. The construction and connection of these routes to the railway system of neighbouring countries contributed to boosting transit freight transportation.
Air and rail transport projects
The implementation of international projects in Turkmenistan’s air transport sector is ongoing. These are the international airports in Ashgabat and each region of the country. In recent years, the air harbours in Turkmenabat and Kerki have been commissioned, and the construction of an airport in Jebel in Balkan velayat is nearing completion. The country’s aircraft fleet is regularly replenished.
Scheduled passenger flights to Abu Dhabi, Kuala Lumpur, Jeddah, Ho Chi Minh City and Milan were launched early this year. Over 50 international agreements and conventions with different countries facilitate foreign economic relations in civil aviation.
Maritime transport projects
Water transport plays a key role in the multimodal transportation system inside and by transit through Turkmenistan. In this regard, the importance of the Turkmenbashi International Seaport, called the “sea gate” to Central Asia, is increasing many times over.
The seaport, which has undergone large-scale modernisation, houses the ferry, passenger and container terminals and other facilities. The Turkmenbashi Port is the crucial link of the North-South and West-East transport corridors. It is included in the list of green ports, has received a EcoPort certificate and provides multipurpose port services.
The ever-increasing role of the Turkmenbashi Port is convincingly evidenced by the fact that the leaders of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Tatarstan and Uzbekistan, as well as high-ranking delegations from China, Japan, Turkey and Afghanistan visited it to see the port infrastructure.
Many transport and transit corridors run through the Turkmenbashi International Seaport, including the most important, such as TRACECA, the Lapis Lazuli Corridor, the Caspian Sea-Black Sea and the North-South. These routes are used to transport goods from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, China and Russia to the countries of the Near and Middle East, the Persian Gulf states, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and further to Europe and in the reverse directions.
Regular freight and passenger flights are operated from Turkmenbashi to the Port of Alat in Azerbaijan and the ports of Astrakhan and Makhachkala in Russia. Turkmenistan is set to launch freight transit services along the new Rasht-Caspian railway in Iran. It is planned to export Turkmen sulphur along this route; it will be delivered from Turkmenbashi to the Capsian Port in Iran and further along the railway that connects the Caspian Sea with the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.
The Turkmenbashi Port houses the Balkan shipbuilding and repair plant. This brand-new facility laid the foundation for Turkmenistan’s shipbuilding industry. Today, the plant builds and repairs various types of ships and promotes international cooperation.
In early August 2024, the construction of two dry cargo ships that fully comply with international standards started at the Turkmenbashi Port. The project is being implemented by the Balkan Shipbuilding and Repair Plant Open Joint-Stock Company jointly with the South Korean partners.
Conclusions
In 2023, 17.3% more freight in transit was transported through Turkmenistan than in 2022. In the first half of this year, transit services increased by 2.1% compared to the same period last year. In 2024, freight imports and exports have increased by 33.6% and 1.6%, respectively.
All of the above contributes to stepping up the development of Turkmenistan’s transport sector and enhancing its transit and export-import potential. Turkmenistan’s transport sector has been developing very dynamically in recent years, which contributes to increasing its role on the regional and global scale.
