ADB to continue working on improving Middle Corridor, says Bank's rep

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will continue to work on improving the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor).

The remarks were made by Evgeny Zhukov, Director General of ADB's Central and West Asia Regional Department, Report informs.

Zhukov noted that ADB started working on the project of this corridor even before the route gained popularity.

"This corridor goes from China to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia and beyond. And we will continue to work in this direction, because for this corridor to become economically viable, there needs to be significant investment in infrastructure, as well as policy changes, reforms, harmonisation of tariffs and border procedures.

If you talk to the private sector right now, they will tell you that currently the Middle Corridor is three to four times more expensive than other available alternatives. So, for this corridor to realise its full potential, the cost of doing business here needs to be significantly reduced," he said.