The TIR system has established a new trade route connecting Uzbekistan to China's Qingdao City, offering a fast, cost-effective, and secure option. Blackcurrants transported by Uzbek TIR trucks departed from Samarkand, passing through Kazakhstan before entering China via Khorgos and continuing to Qingdao. This is the first time a Uzbek truck has completed its operation in China's hinterland.
Reportedly, Yan Zhou, the IRU Chief Representative of East and Southeast Asia, expressed delight in partnering with Qingdao customs and local transport authorities to facilitate the opening of the new Samarkand-Qingdao TIR transport. The new route provides a faster, more cost-effective, and secure door-to-door delivery option than rail and air. Rail transport has waiting times of up to three months, while door-to-door delivery via road takes around ten days.
Qingdao is located strategically at the start of the Maritime Silk Road, which links the overland Belt and Road Initiative with essential ports and airports.
To discuss cross-border trade and transit with China, IRU members, transport companies, development organizations, and financial institutions gathered in Uzbekistan for a roundtable discussion. The conference analyzed pressing transport and transit challenges and emerging opportunities in the region. A special session was held to celebrate IRU's 75th anniversary with development, trade, transport figures, and IRU's New Industry Shapers from the region.
Earlier, Daryo reported that Uzbekistan and the World Bancollaboratedorating on various transportation projects. One of the main projects was the construction of the Pap-Angren Railway, which connects Uzbekistan's main area with the Fergana Valley via a railway tunnel. In addition, the World Bank helped rehabilitate regional roads in four regions of Uzbekistan's Tashkent region and three regions of the Fergana Valley. Currently, the government is collaborating with The World Bank to prepare feasibility studies for regional airports, Tashkent-Andijan Toll Road, and other projects. This collaboration aims to increase the bankability of Uzbekistan's transport sector SOEs to attract commercial financing from international capital markets.
The multi-phased series of projects will support the rehabilitation of several transport subsectors and help connect Termez with the Uzbekistan-Tajikistan border. The World Bank is committed to supporting the government's intention to diversify its regional connectivity links and contribute to a new PPP agenda in the transport sector, including road, railway, and aviation subsectors. Similarly, The World Bank has the necessary resources and willingness to implement these projects.
The TIR system, managed by the International Road Transport Union (IRU), serves as a crucial facilitator for the transit of goods under the Customs Convention. Uzbekistan became a member of this system in 1996.
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