BAKU,
Azerbaijan /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, the first
container block train from China arrived
at the Port of Baku in Azerbaijan.
A welcoming ceremony at the new Ferry Terminal was attended by
senior Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Georgian officials, as well as by
representatives of their national ports, railways and shipping
lines, and members of the diplomatic corps.
The
first train from Northwest
China to Azerbaijan resulted
from a joint effort by the Coordination Committee on the
development of Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR).
The Committee is initiated by the Kazakhstan Railways and comprised
of ports, railways, shipping and logistics companies
of Azerbaijan,Kazakhstan, Georgia, Turkey and China.
The
train, carrying 82 twenty-foot containers, departed Shihezi city
in China's Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region on July
28, travelling more than 4,000 km before reaching
the Caspian port
of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
From there, the train was transported by rail ferry to the new Port
of Baku in
Alyat, 70 km south of Azerbaijan's capital, Baku.
The
Government of Azerbaijan is
developing a new state-of-the-art port complex near Alyat that
includes logistics zones, a secured TIR park site, common-use oil
supply-base facilities, and customs bonded areas. The new port
covers a total area of 400 hectares. This development is a part of
a larger strategy of Azerbaijan's President Ilham
Aliyev to strengthen the country's non-oil economy and
diversify it from hydrocarbons. Located at the strategic crossroads
of Europe and Asia and
nearby sizeable markets such as China, Turkey, Iran and Russia,
the Port ofBaku is
poised to become the leading logistics and trade hub of
Eurasia.
Being
active players in the ancient Silk Road commerce, the landlocked
countries of the Caucasus and Central
Asia aim to revive and boost the once active land-based
trade between China and Europe.
The upcoming completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars
railway project linking rail networks of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey with
the European Union offers new opportunities to transport cargo
from China and
the Far East over a shorter, faster land route. The current
maritime route from East China to Europe is
30-35 days. The Coordination Committee members aim to shorten
door-to-door delivery of China's goods
to Europe to
under 14 days.
Contact:
Tural
Aliyev
(+1) 310-570-2420
[email protected]