Trans Caspian Forum - East-West Trade and Transit Corridor Held in Washington

The Embassy of Georgia, together with Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Turkmen embassies, also with the participation of Eliot International Relations School of George Washington University held the second annual Trans-Caspian Forum - East-West Trade and Transit Corridor in Washington on June 26-27.

The official partner of the forum was the United States Chamber of Commerce.

The Trans-Caspian East-West Trade and Transit Corridor brings together the Central Asia, Caspian and Black Sea strategic regions to form a viable trade and transit corridor between East and West.

Connecting trade, people and economies, the modern trans-Caspian corridor has extensive and integrated network of infrastructure, special economic zones, harmonized customs, cross-border procedures and more along this route.

The United States plays an important role in the development of the Trans Caspian East-West Trade and Transit Corridor.

Development of regional infrastructure projects such as C5 + 1 transport corridor (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the United States), Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway and various projects are currently under development, with a total value of $ 50 billion.

The forum was aimed at offering large transit routes for large American companies operating in Asia and Europe and to familiarize them with the commercial potential in the region.

Expansion of regional transport network along the trans-Caspian corridor gives new possibilities to trans-continental transport and innovative services. Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Turkmenistan - this is about 150 million consumer markets and these countries are ready to receive tailored and integrated solutions that will facilitate effective transportation of cargo.

The Trans Caspian East-West Trade and Transit Corridor Forum is a practical demonstration of the joint desire of trans-Caspian countries to create a corridor with effective conditions.

Participants of the Forum talked about infrastructure, business investment, trade and transit opportunities of their countries in order to inform representatives of American business, political and expert circles, as well as representatives of various international companies.

The acting director of the Georgian Railway branch, Eldar Pertsuliani took part in the forum and talked about transit potential of Georgian Railway.

He emphasized the possibilities that will be given to the Railway after completion of the Georgian Railway Modernization Project and the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project.

By Thea Morrison