WB support to help digitalize information management in South Caucasus

The second phase of World Bank (WB) support to lay the groundwork for the digitalization of the logistics corridor between the South Caucasus and Central Asia will assist corridor stakeholders with the digitalization of internal information management, traffic management and operational systems and their intermodal integration, the World Bank head office in Washington told Report.

“The World Bank is currently working to support the governments of Azerbaijan and Georgia in developing a strategy and action plan to improve the freight traffic and logistics performance of the Transcaucasus Transit Corridor (CTC). In terms of further WB contributions, we have recently completed the first phase of our support to the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan to improve the operation of the Middle Corridor, including the CTC, through a key initiative to digitize information flows along the corridor,” the source in the WB said.

According to the bank, the proposed strategy and action plan to improve CTC freight traffic and logistics performance is aimed at the vision of the development of the project and the role that Azerbaijan and Georgia should play in turning it into a competitive alternative to other regional routes for the transport of goods, especially in containers, between China and Europe. The goal is also to create a reliable transport system in the two countries in cooperation with neighboring economies (Kazakhstan, Turkey and others).

The source at the bank concluded that while CTC may have been disadvantageous in terms of cost and travel time compared to some other alternatives at the time of the study a couple of years ago, it represents a viable option for some markets and shippers looking to increase sustainability and diversify shipping routes.