Silk Railway: Georgia receives first train from China

Georgia is celebrating the arrival of the first cargo train from China, which officially opened the Silk Railway project and will bring millions of dollars to the Georgian economy.

The train departed Lianyungang terminal in China's far east several days ago and travelled through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and will soon arrive in Turkey after passing through Georgia.

The official welcoming ceremony of the first Silk Railway train was opened by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili together with the diplomatic corps and other officials.

"I believe this project will bring more investments and more stability to our country, and more jobs and wellbeing for our people,” Garibashvili said.

"I believe that thanks to the Silk Road, Georgia will become a multiregional centre which will connect Europe, Eastern Asia, India, Central Asia and the Middle East.”

The PM said this project was a continuation of the Government’s "pragmatic policy”.

"With this pragmatic policy we can make our country very attractive to investments and the real regional hub,” Garibashvili said.

The transit train was the shortest route to connect Europe and Asia. Through this route trains departing Lianyungang terminal in China will arrive in Istanbul in 14 or 15 days. Previously, ships used to carry cargo, which used to take 40 to 45 days to reach the destination.

Georgia will receive one more China train before the end of this year while in 2016 thousands of containers were planned to be transported through the country.