A trilateral meeting was held between President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, and Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov on the sidelines of the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) in Turkmenistan’s Awaza National Tourism Area.
According to the press service of the Uzbek president, the leaders discussed strengthening regional cooperation and advancing joint projects in energy, transport, logistics, industry, and agriculture. The parties emphasized the potential for mutually beneficial collaboration in these areas and agreed to continue the dialogue in this trilateral format.
The meeting took place amid broader discussions at the UN conference focused on the challenges and development needs of landlocked developing countries. Heads of state and international organization leaders convened to address pressing issues such as limited access to global markets and high transportation costs.
In his address to the conference, President Mirziyoyev highlighted the structural constraints that landlocked countries like Uzbekistan face in accessing seaports.
“The nearest ports are located nearly three thousand kilometers away, which leads to high tariffs, limited transport capacity, and dependency on other countries' customs and transit policies,” he said.
Citing World Bank data, Mirziyoyev noted that Central Asia loses up to 2% of its GDP each year due to transport inefficiencies. Logistics expenses can reach up to 60% of the total cost of goods in the region—several times higher than the global average.
“To ensure sustainable development in Central Asia, it is crucial to establish reliable new transit corridors and modern logistics infrastructure,” he stressed.
The president also stressed the significance of accelerating key regional infrastructure initiatives. He called for speeding up the construction of the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway and integrating it with the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.
These projects, along with further development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor), are seen as essential steps toward building a resilient and interconnected regional trade network.
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