In order for the Caspian Sea to become a full-fledged transport bridge, targeted efforts are needed to improve the operational efficiency of port and shipping infrastructure, Sherkhan Sugurbekov, CEO of the shipping company Caspian Integrated Maritime Solutions, said during the session "Seamless Eurasia: A Logistics Hub at the Crossroads of Continents" at the Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), Report informs.
He emphasized that the Caspian region remains highly sensitive in terms of transport and logistics.
"Our key objective is to ensure the most efficient integration of overland transport systems passing through the Caspian, including rail and road. In recent times, we have been directing all our efforts toward ensuring that the Caspian Sea ceases to be a 'bottleneck.' We are convinced that it is already transforming into a bridge and becoming an integral link in such large-scale international routes as the Middle Corridor and the North-South corridor.
Ports and shipping are developing, and overall, the existing infrastructure already allows for fully meeting the needs of the transport system. Nevertheless, as my colleagues from related sectors have emphasized, transport professionals face similar issues and challenges," the company head stated.
Sugurbekov pointed out that, first and foremost, this concerns the need for synchronization and coordination, which is equally relevant for maritime transport systems.
"For the Caspian segment to truly become a reliable and predictable bridge, in the near term, we need to focus on ensuring the stability of the entire logistics chain. It is necessary to substantially improve the operational efficiency of ports and vessels. Undoubtedly, all of this must be united by common digital solutions and platforms, the development of which we are now actively engaged in. We are confident that the steps being taken today will yield results, and the Caspian Sea will ultimately transform from a logistics dead end into a reliable transport bridge," the CEO added.