Baku, Ankara examine development of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project PHOTO

During a working visit to Türkiye, Azerbaijan's Minister of Digital Development and Transport, Rashad Nabiyev, met with Türkiye's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, to discuss the advancement of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project.

Nabiyev shared details of their discussions on X page, highlighting the importance of collaboration between the two countries in the transportation sector, Caliber.Az reports.

Türkiyəyə işgüzar səfər çərçivəsində nəqliyyat və infrastruktur naziri Abdulkadir Uraloğlu ilə görüşdük. Nəqliyyat sahəsində əməkdaşlığı, Orta Dəhlizin daşıma potensialının artırılması üçün birgə görüləcək işləri, eləcə də Bakı-Tbilisi-Qars layihəsinin inkişafını müzakirə etdik. pic.twitter.com/5bD2wglgQq

— Rashad Nabiyev (@RashadNNabiyev) October 4, 2024

"Our talks focused on enhancing cooperation in transportation, which is vital for both Azerbaijan and Türkiye," he stated.

The ministers also addressed joint measures to improve the transit potential of the Middle Corridor and explored prospects for further development of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project.

"The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway has significant potential for increasing trade and connectivity in the region, and our discussions have paved the way for future advancements," Nabiyev believes.

As the countries continue to strengthen their transport ties, both ministers expressed optimism about the project's role in facilitating greater regional integration and economic growth.

Note that, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars "steel" mainline, which was launched in October 2017 with a total length of 829 km, was integrated into almost all the routes of the Middle Corridor in a relatively short time, including turning into a critical component of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) created in 2018, designed for the transportation of non-oil products, including multimodal containerised cargo.

The advantages of the BTK line include the relatively short distance across Azerbaijan and Georgia and the climatic conveniences that ensure stable operation of rolling stock in winter.

In comparison, it takes 40 to 60 days to transship cargo from Europe to Asia through the Suez Canal or around Africa, and it takes more than 30 days to deliver cargo from China to Europe in transit via Russia along the Northern Corridor. With the use of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, deliveries from Asia to Türkiye via the South Caucasus could take 15 days.

Today Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, along with Kazakhstan, actively use the potential of the BTK as part of several trans-Caspian routes. Since 2019, China has been actively exploring this potential as part of its "Belt and Road" initiative by organising the movement of block trains to transship container cargo to Türkiye and further to the Middle East and Europe.

By Aghakazim Guliyev