ASTANA: Russia and Kazakhstan are interested in the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor, Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia said, Trend reports. He made the remark during a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation between the countries in Astana. "Together with Kazakhstan, we are interested in developing the International North-South Transport Corridor. The development of transport routes in the direction of China is also important for us. Chinese agricultural markets have begun to open for our countries. These opportunities must be supported by a business-friendly environment, including new, modern infrastructure," he said. According to Overchuk, Kazakhstan and Russia are also working on the development of checkpoints and infrastructure connectivity between the countries. To note, the North-South International Transport Corridor is a 7,200 km multimodal route that connects St. Petersburg with the ports of Iran and India. It is an alternative t o the sea route connecting Europe, the Persian Gulf countries, and the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal. The western and eastern branches of the ITC pass through Iran; the western branch provides for transportation through Iran by road via Rasht, and the eastern branch by rail. The final point in Iran is the port of Bandar Abbas, from which cargo can be delivered to India by sea. The western branch also passes through Azerbaijan, while the eastern branch passes through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Meanwhile, the volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Russia amounted to $9.7 billion from January through May 2024. This is 12.5 percent less than in the same period in 2023 ($11.1 billion). Kazakhstan's exports to Russia in the first five months of 2024 amounted to $3.36 billion, which is 21.5 percent less year-on-year ($4.3 billion). Imports from Russia from January through May 2024 decreased by 6.7 percent to $6.3 billion. For the same period in 2023, this figure was $6.8 billion. Source: Trend News Agency
Russia, Kazakhstan keen on dev’t of North-South transport corridor, says deputy PM
