At the meeting of the Intergovernmental Council held on June 4 in Nesvizh (Belarus), the Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union approved the report for 2023 on creating and developing transport infrastructure in the territories of the EAEU Member States in the East-West and North-South directions, including as part of coupling with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. The preparation of this report on an annual basis is envisaged by the Strategy-2025.
The document notes that last year the EAEU countries conducted outreach efforts on developing sections of national transport infrastructure, creating logistics services, concluding international treaties and memorandums with partners on the transport corridors development.
“In 2023, the “five“ countries did not slow down the pace of transport infrastructure development and managed not only to overcome emerging difficulties, but also to implement a number of large-scale transport projects,” noted Arzybek Kozhoshev, Minister in charge of Energy and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
As part of diversifying transport and logistics links, the North-South corridors and the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route have received a new impetus in development.
In 2023, by decision of the Intergovernmental Council, the list of priority integration infrastructure projects in the field of transport was supplemented with new projects from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Now the list includes 11 large-scale projects on construction and reconstruction of roads and railways.
In order to fulfill and develop transit potential within the EAEU and coordinate transport infrastructure, the Comprehensive Plan for developing the Eurasian transport corridors was adopted.
The Commission is actively engaged in increasing international cooperation in the field of transport with China, UAE and Iran.
At the proposal of Armenia, the report includes the “Crossroads of the World” initiative, designed to create favorable conditions for developing trade and economic ties between all interested countries and to unlock the logistics potential of the South Caucasus region.