Azerbaijan invested over $2B in development of Eurasian transport framework

As of July 1, 2025, Azerbaijan's investments in the development of the Eurasian Transport Framework (ETF) amounted to $2.1 billion, Report informs referring to the Eurasian Development Bank's transport projects observatory.

A total of 325 projects worth over $234 billion are being implemented or planned in the region. The Observatory covers 13 countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Belarus, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The largest number of projects (over 51%) are in the road sector.

In terms of investment volumes, over 60% of projects are at the implementation stage, 13% are at the stage of preparing project documentation, and 27% are at the discussion and planning stage. Central Asian countries accumulate more than 22% of all investments in the ETF - 90 projects worth about $53 billion are being implemented in the region, 44% of which are in Kazakhstan.

Almost two-thirds of these investments are aimed at the construction and modernization of trunk roads, which emphasizes the region's urgent need to develop transport infrastructure to stimulate trade and international transportation. The distribution of investments in the development of the ETF by the countries of the Eurasian region is as follows: Russia - $137.1 billion, Kazakhstan - $23.3 billion, Iran - $13.6 billion, Afghanistan - $12.5 billion, Kyrgyzstan - $12 billion, Mongolia - $8.5 billion, Uzbekistan - $7.2 billion, Turkmenistan - $5.3 billion, Tajikistan - $5 billion, Armenia - $4.7 billion, Georgia - $2.6 billion and Belarus - $0.2 billion.

Russia accounts for seven of the ten largest ETF projects. As a result, the development of the Northern Eurasian Transport Corridor turned out to be the most capital-intensive area, requiring investments of $78 billion, which is a third of the total investment in the ETF. The top 10 projects in Central Asia accumulate 58% of all investments in the ETF in Central Asia. Among them are the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway ($4.7 billion), the Tashkent-Andijan expressway ($4.3 billion), the Balykhchi-Kochkor-Kara-Keche-Makmal-Jalal-Abad railway ($4.1 billion), the North-South railway in Tajikistan ($3.9 billion), etc.

The EDB notes that project prioritization is especially important in conditions of limited investment resources.

In countries with low GDP, such as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Armenia, spending on transport infrastructure is especially significant in relation to the size of the economy. Of the total number of projects, 113 involve private sector participation, almost half of them in logistics and warehouse infrastructure.

About 17 projects are being implemented or could potentially be implemented in the format of public-private partnership (PPP), including two cross-border projects - the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway corridor and the Trans-Afghan railway corridor, the EDB said in a statement.