Georgian economy minister stresses importance of developing Black Sea transport routes at Trans-Caspian ministerial

Georgian economy minister Levan Davitashvili on Friday joined Azerbaijani, Turkish and Kazakh ministers of foreign affairs for the ministerial meeting on Trans-Caspian connectivity in Aktau, Kazakhstan, stressing the importance of developing transport routes on the Black Sea and digitising the transport Middle Corridor at the event.

The ministry cited Davitashvili as saying his government was “taking important steps to develop the transport infrastructure, which, in turn, leads to increasing the efficiency of the Middle Transit Corridor”, in reference to the international route connecting logistics and supply operations between Asia and Europe.

[Compared with] 2014, container shipments from China to Europe through the Middle Corridor increased - the cargo passed through the Middle Corridor and, accordingly, through Georgia exceeded 10,000 TEU in 2021", Davitashvili said.

Levan Davitashvili speaking at the ministerial. Photo: ministry of economy

The Ministry also said ministers from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Türkiye had expressed their readiness to take joint measures to increase the efficiency and attractiveness of the Corridor, with the parties agreeing to develop the infrastructure and operational directions for the route.

The state body also announced documents concerning "specific activities determined to improve the capacity of the Middle Corridor" between 2022-2027 were signed as part of the ministerial meeting.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor was established in February 2014 with the participation of relevant structures of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia. Ukraine, Romania and Poland later joined the project.

At present, the route starts at the Chinese-Kazakh border, passes through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia, before extending to Europe.