Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan’s Agency for Strategic Development and Reforms under the President has proposed introducing an extraterritorial free port regime at multimodal logistics centres and dry ports across the country, as well as adopting a law on dry ports.
The agency has also proposed transferring some terminals to international operators, allowing private companies to provide locomotive traction services and establishing a national fund for logistics infrastructure development.
The proposals are outlined in an analytical report titled “Proposals for Developing the Dry Port Network and Increasing Uzbekistan’s Transit Potential”, the agency said.
According to the report’s authors, the country’s 27 dry ports do not yet operate as a unified national system. If infrastructure, digital, financial and institutional barriers are not addressed soon, a significant share of the added value generated by cargo transit could accrue outside Uzbekistan.
The market is growing faster than infrastructure
Since 2017, the annual volume of transport services in Uzbekistan has increased more than fivefold, from 36 trillion soums to 188.2 trillion soums. According to the National Statistics Committee, the figure reached 85.3 trillion soums in the first half of 2026, up 43% year on year. Transport ranks third in the services sector, after trade and catering.
According to the Eurasian Development Bank, Uzbekistan’s rail container traffic reached 100,000 TEU for the first time in 2025, while total rail freight exceeded 107.9 million tonnes. However, the agency estimates that containers account for less than 1.5% of rail freight turnover, with coal, ore and construction materials continuing to make up the bulk of shipments. In Kazakhstan, containerisation reached 8.5% in 2026, with container traffic totalling 2.2 million TEU, according to Kazakh media.
At a meeting of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) working group in Bangkok in late 2025, 27 of Uzbekistan’s largest logistics centres were included in the international network of dry ports under the Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Ports, which brings together 17 countries. They include Navoi Cargo, Kungrad Cargo Impex and Termez Cargo Centre. Their inclusion expanded the agreement’s network by 15%.
The Trans-Caspian Route is also growing. It carried 4.2 million tonnes of cargo in 2025. The volume is forecast to reach 5.2 million tonnes in 2026 and 11 million tonnes by 2030. Container traffic along the route totalled around 77,000 TEU and could rise to 300,000 TEU by 2030.
Warehouses are nearly fully occupied
In April 2026, consulting firm IBC Global published its first global ranking of warehouse markets, covering 200 countries. Uzbekistan ranked seventh with 40.2 points, between Türkiye and Mexico, ahead of India and Kazakhstan. The country received no penalty points for geopolitical risks or sanctions pressure.
The supply of Class A and B warehouse space stands at around 795,000 square metres, while unmet demand is estimated at nearly 400,000 square metres. More than 98% of Class A space is occupied, and around 370,000 square metres are under construction. Modern warehouse space amounts to just 0.02 square metres per capita, compared with around 0.7 square metres in Türkiye, 0.9 square metres in Poland and 2.1 square metres in Germany.
Average rents for Class A warehouses in Tashkent have reached around US$12 per square metre per month. With construction costs of US$670–700 per square metre, annual returns for developers are estimated at 15–18%, with a payback period of five to seven years. By comparison, residential property in Tashkent yields investors 8–12% annually.
Barriers to transit development
The agency identifies infrastructure as the main constraint. More than 75% of modern warehouse space is concentrated in the Tashkent transport hub, while most regional terminals are Class B or C facilities without automated management systems, modern crane equipment or their own railway tracks. Until August 2025, the national operator Uztemiryulcargo had to use wagons owned by Kazakh companies on the Tashkent–Altynkol route.
Over nine years, Uzbekistan’s population grew by nearly 30% and nominal GDP almost 2.5 times, while the length of its main railway lines increased by only 12–14%, to 4,800 kilometres. According to regulatory calculations, the country needs around 7,560 kilometres of railway tracks, leaving a shortfall of approximately 2,800 kilometres. The required investment is estimated at US$9–13 billion over 10–15 years.
Digital barriers also hinder development. There is no unified digital ecosystem with neighbouring countries or full mutual recognition of electronic signatures, while participants in the Trans-Caspian Route have yet to agree on through tariffs. Another problem is the imbalance in cargo flows. Imports from Asia far exceed shipments in the opposite direction, forcing operators to return empty containers to China at their own expense.
Financing is constrained by high borrowing costs. Interest rates on loans in the national currency stand at 21–23% annually, exceeding the returns on warehouse projects. According to the World Bank, bureaucracy extends the construction cycle for a logistics centre from six to nine months to as long as two years. Investors must complete four separate procedures just to obtain land.
The agency also points to a conflict of interest in sector governance. Uzbekistan Railways owns the infrastructure, transports cargo and manages terminals, while its subsidiary holds a monopoly over all mainline locomotives in the country.
International experience
The report cites examples from landlocked countries. Rwanda granted DP World a 25-year concession to operate a dry port in Kigali with an annual capacity of 50,000 TEU and moved customs clearance inland. As a result, transit time fell from 14 days to three, and the country saves around US$50 million annually. With support from the International Finance Corporation, Laos built the Thanaleng dry port in 2021, reducing cargo delivery times to Europe from 45 days to 15.
Kazakhstan privatised its rail wagon fleet, with 74% of wagons now privately owned, and has allowed private locomotives to operate since 2018. Two private carriers already own around 100 locomotives and plan to purchase another 110.
Seven proposals from the agency
The central proposal is to introduce a free port regime. It would move customs, phytosanitary and veterinary controls inside terminals and allow foreign goods to be imported and stored duty-free. Commercial disputes would be handled by the Tashkent International Commercial Court at the Tashkent International Financial Centre (TIFC), while all freight forwarders and carriers would receive equal access to hub capacity. To implement the regime, the agency proposes adopting a law on dry ports and amending the Customs and Tax Codes.
The second proposal is to establish partnerships with international operators under public-private partnership models. This would involve transferring state-owned dry ports to private management for modernisation and building new hubs. Potential partners named in the report include DP World, AD Ports Group, Duisburger Hafen, PSA International, Lotte Global Logistics and COSCO Shipping. The agency proposes preparing the agreements with the participation of the International Finance Corporation.
The agency has also proposed:
- Establishing a National Logistics Infrastructure Development Fund with mixed financing from state assets, loans from international development banks, sovereign wealth funds and infrastructure bonds, including sukuk.
- Introducing a pilot scheme allowing private operators to provide locomotive traction services on selected routes.
- Launching a national Cargo Community System digital platform integrating railways, customs, terminals, banks and insurers, with the aim of reducing document processing times from several days to 10–15 minutes.
- Allowing small road freight carriers to form cooperatives.
- Simplifying and digitising the allocation of land and the issuance of construction permits for logistics facilities.
