Expert opinion: New road will boost trade between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

Almaty. April 17. KazTAG -The new motorway will boost trade between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, said Lidya Parkhomchik, expert at the Institute of World Economy and Politics  at the Foundation of the First President of Kazakhstan.
“Undoubtedly, the motorway construction (from the city of Turkmenbashi to the border with Kazakhstan - KazTAG) meets the national interests of Turkmenistan in strengthening trade and economic relations with Kazakhstan. At present, Nur-Sultan and Ashgabat are interested in increasing mutual trade turnover up to $ 1 billion a year, and the new motorway will be a good enhancement for this task, ” commented Parkhomchik  on the new motorway construction.
She reminded that last year foreign trade between the states amounted to only $ 99.5 million.
In her words, the construction of route the Turkmenbashi – Karabogaz – Kazakhstan border will have a positive effect on cargo traffic indicators and on the Russian direction.
“Turkmenistan seeks to prepare the road system for a possible increase in the cargo transit from Russia, especially after Kazakhstan completes the reconstruction of the 277-kilometer Atyrau-Astrakhan route by 2022. Repair works on the highway is carried out as part of the creation of the Center-West corridor (Aktobe-Atyrau-Russian border), which will significantly increase passenger and transport flows between Kazakhstan and Russia," she said.
“Moreover, the construction of the road will increase the volumes of transportation of domestic products of the petrochemical complex, whose enterprises are located in the Balkan velayat. At the same time, we can talk both about motor transportations to Kazakhstan, and about trans-Caspian transportation through the port of Turkmenbashi," she added.
In addition, the interlocutor added intensification of cross-border cooperation with Turkmenistan fully meets the goals of the Nurly Zhol program on the development of transport infrastructure of Kazakhstan.
She also reminded that development of transport and logistics potential is one of the most important factors of economic growth in Kazakhstan.
“If we talk about the development strategy of the transport infrastructure of the Mangistau region, we can indicate an obvious focus on increasing communication within the region. So, for example, if in 2012, 40.5% of the region’s highways were in unsatisfactory condition, in 2015 their number was reduced to 16%, and in 2018 this figure was only 8%," she said.
At the same time, she said that the roads that are part of the international transit corridor Astrakhan – Atyrau – Aktau – Turkmenistan border are being reconstructed in stages.