Translated with AI
On May 26-27, the second meeting of the High-Level Working Group on the Multimodal Corridor "Tajikistan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Iran – Turkey" (TUTIT) + China was held in Dushanbe under the auspices of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the press service of the Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan reports.
The meeting was attended by representatives from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
The meeting was devoted to the development and promotion of the said international transit corridor with the aim of increasing cargo transportation and simplifying trade procedures, especially for landlocked countries.
The meetings discussed issues of deepening cooperation in the field of transport, infrastructure development and harmonization of border crossing procedures. In this aspect, factors of sustainable interconnectivity and processes of digitalization of transport were considered.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the Minister of Transport of the Republic of Tajikistan Azim Ibrohim noted: “Tajikistan, taking an active part in the international community, makes every effort to strengthen the role of transport and logistics in ensuring sustainable trade and economic integration between the countries of the region.”
The Minister expressed his conviction that the development of intermodal and multimodal transport corridors, cross-border and transit transport services is the basis for sustainable economic growth and the expansion of logistics chain capabilities.
To achieve this, he said, it is necessary to harmonize customs and border procedures in order to simplify the cross-border movement of people and goods.
In this context, the Minister of Transport of Tajikistan proposed to digitalize transit documents in order to increase the efficiency and transparency of interaction, as well as to create TIR-EPD "green lanes" at checkpoints. In his opinion, such a measure will ensure the safety of trade and International Road Transport (TIR, an international transit system based on the UN Convention), reduce transit time, reduce the transport load on the terrain and CO2 emissions.
Let us recall that the first meeting of the Working Group also took place in Dushanbe on September 21, 2023.
It should be noted that the Meeting of the High-Level Working Group on the Multimodal Corridor "Tajikistan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkey" (TUTIT) was established in accordance with the recommendations of the Ankara Declaration adopted following the 11th meeting of transport ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) on 2 February 2022, as well as on the basis of the decisions of the 33rd meeting of the ECO Regional Planning Council.
