Politics

Kazakhstan defends privileged position as bridge between Asia and Europe

Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Nov 18 (EFE).- Kazakhstan on Friday defended its privileged geographical position as a bridge between Asia and Europe at a time when the world needs new connectivity routes.

“Our geographic location gives us a competitive advantage in overland transport between corridors and several markets,” said Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi at the EU-Central Asia Connectivity Conference: Global Gateway ministerial conference in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan attended the meeting.

Tileuberdi said that “transit and transport cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union became important as never before due to unprecedented geopolitical and logistical shifts” occurring in the world.

“Our country is ready to work on developing sustainable ties with the EU and our neighbors,” he added.

In this regard, he believed that Kazakhstan and other countries in the region could act as a “buffer market” between East and West, as well as South and North.

“We want to be able to use all routes for cargo traffic between Europe and Asia,” Tileuberdi later told reporters in Samarkand.

The head of Kazakh diplomacy said that Astana has supported China’s New Silk Road initiative from the very beginning and “adapted it to its national infrastructure development program.”

“Today, it is a transport and logistics hub of Eurasia with 11 international transit routes – 5 railways and 6 highways – crossing the nation’s territory,” he stressed.

Thanks to this, he added, it has “reduced by 3.5 times the duration it takes to transport goods from Asia to Europe, compared to sea routes.” EFE

kk-mos/ah/lap

Related Articles

Back to top button