Expert Olga Podberezkina commends potential of Kazakhstan in Silk Road

She reminded which routes already pass through Kazakhstan.

Seven years ago China announced its intention to revive the Great Silk Road. It is related to the massive supply of Chinese goods through a chain of cities in different countries to Europe, the Middle East, by sea to African states. Apart from the fact that Kazakhstan is a neighbor of the PRC, the transport routes of the future Silk Road will pass through the territory of the state. The potential of Kazakhstan in the frame of the implementation of the project was commented by Olga Podberezkina, a Ph.D. candidate in political science, the researcher at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies, IIR MGIMO for CentralAsia.news.

Presidents supported it

China is well aware that the infrastructure of each state is developed in different ways. These are not only the geographic factor and economic agreements but also the ability of an individual country to invest in roads, airports, checkpoints. Beijing has repeatedly pointed out that the project participants will be assisted to build infrastructure capacity. China is ready to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on the construction of roads and logistics centers, construction of railways. None of the states will refuse this kind of assistance.

The first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and his successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, supported China's initiative, which is quite logical.

In 2019 Nazarbayev drew attention to the relevance of the Chinese wisdom: "If you want to get rich, build a road." He underlined that the relations between the PRC and Kazakhstan are at a high level. The expansion of economic ties has already made the republic the most important link in the supply of Chinese goods to Europe, marked Elbasy.

Good "geography"

According to the expert Olga Podberezkina, the economic and logistics potential of Kazakhstan in the Chinese Silk Road project is enormous. She focused on the favorable geographical position of the CIS member state. This country is located in the center of the Eurasian continent and that made Kazakhstan a transit link in Europe-Asia communication.

- The territory of the republic is crossed by the main transcontinental routes linking the states of the Asia-Pacific region (APR), the Near and Middle East, Europe and the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR), - stressed the specialist.

TAR corridors

The expert highlighted that TAR is considered one of the most promising international routes that connect China with European and Middle Eastern states. The northern and central corridors of the highway pass through Kazakhstan.

The specialist drew attention to the Central Corridor because the Kazakh authorities predict an increase in cargo traffic along this route.

- According to the forecasts of specialists from the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development of Kazakhstan, transit traffic along the corridor in the coming years will grow, - said Podberezkina.

Proper management

Despite the favorable geographical location of Kazakhstan regarding the PRC, there is a possibility that the CIS member state will be “taxed” due to the high cost of the tariff.

- The overland route from China to Europe, through Kazakhstan, is several thousand kilometers less than the one passing through the Russian Federation. The transit tariff in Kazakhstan is the most expensive among the 1520-gauge countries. In this regard, there are risks that customers will start using alternative routes, - considered the expert.

According to her, the development of the northern sea route can change the balance of transit traffic. The expert added that Kazakhstan has a huge potential, but with “proper management and development”.


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