Kazakhstan offers to cooperate with Lithuania on Middle Corridor

The head of the international road transport department at Kazakhstan's Committee of Road Transport and Transport Control, Almaz Aisin, has proposed cooperation with Lithuania to launch container transportation along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), Kazakhstan's Transport Ministry said, Report informs via Interfax.

"We are proposing to cooperate with Lithuania in launching container transportation between our countries via the TITR," Aisin said in Vilnius during a meeting of the Kazakh-Lithuanian Intergovernmental Commission on trade and economic cooperation.

Aisin highlighted Kazakhstan's pivotal role in the transit of goods between Europe and Central Asia, emphasizing the nation's dedication to enhancing transport and transit potential in the region and modernizing transport corridors.

"We also extend an invitation to all Lithuanian companies to participate in the upcoming New Silkway Transport Forum, scheduled to take place in Astana in October this year," Aisin said.

At the event, the Kazakh-Lithuanian mixed commission on international road transport convened, reaching an agreement on permit quotas for 2024. They also extended the use of 2023 permit forms for transportation through March 20 of this year.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or Middle Corridor, links China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye, and Europe. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is part of the TITR.

The cargo transportation logistics are significantly complicated by tensions in the Red Sea, and the crisis is already affecting the countries of Northern Europe. Finland said that there are no alternative routes, since the northeastern corridor route through Russia is closed.

The world's leading carriers have decided to abandon the delivery of goods through the Red Sea; they bypass it and move through the Cape of Good Hope, which affects global food trade and leads to higher prices.