Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Held on 6 August this year, in Turkmenistan, the consultative meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia clearly demonstrated the great opportunities for the development of intraregional cooperation.

The initiatives voiced during this event by the President of Uzbekistan are very timely, as they are aimed at the implementation of large projects related to the expansion of ties between the countries of Central Asia.

I would like to especially note the initiative of the Head of Uzbekistan aimed at the effective use, expansion and diversification of the transport and transit potential of the region.

Today there are only 44 countries in the world that are landlocked, including all the states of Central Asia.

Numerous studies show that landlocked countries spend twice as much on transport costs. For the countries of Central Asia, transport costs in many cases reach 60% of the value of imported goods.

In this regard, Uzbekistan constantly comes up with the initiative to develop an extensive and reliably functioning network of international transport corridors with access to sea and ocean ports, and also supports all reasonable projects in this direction.

In addition, due to the territorial features of the region, experts emphasize the relevance of transporting goods between Asia and Europe through Central Asia.

In this connection, the launch and provision of effective functioning of the new multimodal transport corridor China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan is being actively promoted.

The advantage of this route is the length, delivery speed and mobility:

- when compared with other routes, this corridor is shorter and passes through areas with more favorable climates;

- an additional plus is that

compared to traditional sea routes, this route can deliver goods from China to Europe three times faster (10-15 days).

Also, one cannot fail to note the agreements reached on the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway.

The new trans-Afghan railway, providing access to the Pakistani seaports of Karachi, Qasem and Gwadar, will connect the South Asian railway system with the Central Asian and Eurasian ones.

Central Asian countries will receive the shortest access to seaports through Afghanistan and Pakistan. As a result of the construction of this railway, transportation costs will decrease by 30-35%, transportation times - by 15-16 days.

Today this project is supported by Russia, China, and the United States. Representatives of international financial institutions (WB, ADB, EBRD, IDB, etc.) showed interest in the construction of a railway in the Peshawar direction.

From the position of the countries of South Asia, the commissioning of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway route will significantly reduce the delivery time of goods to Central Asia, the CIS and Europe.

In addition, laying the route will reduce the cost of transporting one 20-pound container by almost 3 times.

Thus, diversification and effective addition of transport corridors is becoming a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth in Central Asia, a region located far from sea routes and centers of world trade.

Leading Research Fellow, International Institute of Central Asia