Belt and Road link to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan has been delayed by cost debate

TOKYO — Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for accelerated cooperation on a planned international railway linking China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan during a visit to the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek on Wednesday, Russian and Chinese state media reported.

China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan reached a basic agreement in September 2022 on an international railway connecting the three countries. Construction was expected to begin this fall, but China reportedly decided to postpone the project due to differences over construction cost sharing.

With a struggling economy, Kyrgyzstan is unable to bear the huge expense of the project. The country already has significant external debt after receiving massive aid loans from China. Constructing the new railway could increase its reliance on Beijing.

The planned railway, part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, would have a total length of 454 kilometers and is expected to cost $3 billion to $6 billion.

It is part of China’s outreach to resource-rich Central Asia, a region long under Russian influence that is seeking to improve its connections with the global economy.

The primary overland route from China through Central Asia to Europe and the Arabian Sea now runs mostly through Kazakhstan. Achieving rail transport through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan would help increase transport volume and contribute to the development of routes that avoid Russia.

Li is on an official visit to Kyrgyzstan this week and met with the country’s Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov on Wednesday. On Thursday, he will attend a leaders’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, whose members include China, Russia and Central Asian countries.

Source: Nikkei Asia

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AKIPRESS.COM – The project of construction of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is under activation stage, the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Kyrgyzstan reported.

The technical and economic assessments were completed by July 2023. The assessments confirmed technical feasibility and economic effectiveness of construction of the railway, the Ministry of Transport said.

Trilateral meeting was held at level of experts on September 21. The model of financing and management of the project was discussed at the meeting.

The Ministry of Transport reminded a trilateral memorandum of understanding was signed on the sidelines of China-Central Asia Summit on May 18-19 betyween the National Development and Reform Commission of China, Ministry of Transport and Communications of Kyrgyzstan, Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan on achieving mutual understanding on trilateral joint technical and economic assessment of construction of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway (the section of the railway on the territory of Kyrgyzstan).

Possible routes of the railway:

Source: Akipress

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As connectivity of Southeast Asia and the Middle East with Central Asia and the Caucasus hinges on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Trans-Afghan Railway Line, if completed, will serve as a lifeline for an integrated Eurasia.

Initially, a conception of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to diversify trade and supply routes of his landlocked Central Asian country, Trans-Afghan Railway Line has ever since become a dream of all stakeholders in the region for boosting connectivity.

“Termez-Mazar-e-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar Railway is our common future. When the construction of this route is completed, we will create the closest, cheapest and safest corridor connecting Pakistan to Central Asia,” Mirziyoyev said during his visit to Islamabad in 2020. Uzbekistan’s major purpose behind the project was to gain access to Pakistan’s Karachi Port, Port Qasim and Gwadar Port for its trade outreach to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Pakistan and Afghanistan found it more amenable to their economic revival plans.

Source : DailyTimes

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