Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 21 May, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, during his speech at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, put forward a number of key initiatives to develop cooperation between the country and the EAEU. 

The head of Uzbekistan outlined increasing the competitiveness of transport corridors, as well as the harmonization of technical regulations and standards, and the mutual provision of preferences as the priority goal of interaction.

It is important to emphasize that the relevance of the proposal of the President of Uzbekistan lies in the fact that it is aimed, on the one hand, at the comprehensive development of the transport, communication and logistics system of the EAEU, providing the shortest routes of communication between Europe and Asia, access to the markets of the Middle East, China and the EU, on the other hand, to increase the attractiveness of transport services and infrastructure through cooperation within the framework of international transport corridors passing through the territories of the countries of the union.

Today, ensuring the national interests of Uzbekistan in the world market of transport services through the development of international and regional cooperation is one of the priority tasks of the country's economic development. To increase the export of Uzbek products to foreign markets, the solution of transport issues is of a strategic nature. In this regard, the most important area of cooperation within the EAEU, which is of particular interest to Uzbekistan, is the transport and transit sector.

The EAEU is taking systemic measures to create a single transport space. As part of this work, a coordinated transport policy is being implemented in the EAEU, which is aimed at ensuring economic integration based on the principles of competition, openness, safety, reliability and accessibility. It is assumed that the process of forming the Common Transport Space will be completed by 2025, when all obstacles to transportation by any means of transport will be removed.

It should be noted that the EAEU has an extensive transport network capable of providing the shortest transcontinental connections. Interaction with it will not only lead to an increase in the volume of transit traffic, but will also contribute to the development of trade between all countries of the Eurasian continent.

It is known that 80 percent of Uzbekistan's foreign trade cargo is transported through the EAEU member countries - Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Today, a huge share of the cost of Uzbek export goods is accounted for by transportation costs.

According to experts, if effective cooperation is established, the costs of Uzbekistan in transit of goods through the railways of the EAEU countries can be reduced to US$220 million. Moreover, due to the simplification of customs procedures, the formation of transparent tariffs and the opening of new routes, the transit potential of Uzbekistan can be increased from the current 7 million tons to 16 million tons.

Thus, the proposal of the head of Uzbekistan will allow solving the key tasks of developing land transport communications on an international scale, as well as increasing its own transit cargo flows.

Janibek Turdibaev, Leading Researcher at ISMI under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan