Transportation

188.6 mln tons products

Sit aliquam neque, senectus dictumst dolor dictum adipiscing parturient

5981.9 thsd tons products

Ullamcorper dictum tellus diam ultricies purus luctus ac id

34720,0 thsd tons products

Quis arcu urna, cursus eu et neque purus orci

14.6 mln tons products

112.5 mln tons products

Road- 111.5 mln tons products

458.8 thsd tons products

Azerbaijan has been at the center of trade between Asia and Europe for millennia, as the Silk Road passed through Azerbaijan. Today, as trade flows increase between Europe and Asia, Azerbaijan is emerging as a transport and logistics hub at the crossroad of Eurasia. Azerbaijan is a home for the “Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia” TRACECA, the international program on creation of a transport corridor from Europe to Asia through the Caucasus. It involves the European Union and 14 states of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. Its permanent secretariat is located in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is no wonder that Azerbaijan hosts the Program, as the Trans-Caspian East-West Corridor is considered to be the shortest linkage between China and Europe, both in distance and time. The average length of the corridor is 4,200 km, and possible transit period is about 12 to 14 days which enables cargo shippers to have 70% time saving in comparison with traditional ocean shipment. In the meantime, this route provides plenty of opportunities for emerging economies of Central Asia to reach European markets. In addition, Azerbaijan is currently cooperating with its partners on the creation of faster South-to-North transport corridor. Theoretically, using both corridors Azerbaijan can attract additional trade volume of almost 230 million tons. According to the Strategic Roadmap for the Development of Logistics and Trade, Azerbaijan will become a strategic international logistics hub by 2025. This will require attraction of additional investment in transport infrastructure, logistics and trade. The investment project has been cost 3 billion by the end of 2020. 

 

The Strategic Roadmap breaks down the projected share of Azerbaijan in the international transit of goods by 2020:

 

  • Central Asia-Black Sea route – 40%,
  • Central Asia-Europe route - 25%,
  • China-Europe route - 3%,
  • Russia-Iran route - 40%,
  • Iran-Black Sea route - 25%.

 

To ensure Azerbaijan can meet this potential as a strategic location, investment has been made to upgrade the transport infrastructure to EU standards, and to meet this increasing intercontinental traffic. Significant investment has been made to upgrade the transport infrastructure to EU standards. This includes 10,185 km of constructed and rehabilitated roads and highways; the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, to connect the Trans-European and Trans-Asian railway networks; the new Baku International Sea Trade Port with capacity of 10-11.5 mln tons of cargo and 50 thsd TEU (to be increased up to 21-25 mln tons of cargo and 1 mln TEU); the new Heydar Aliyev terminal at Baku International Airport with its state of the art services and significant capacity for transit passengers, as well as the new air cargo terminal. Moreover, Azerbaijan invests in creation of logistic centers in strategic markets. 

 

The first such center was established in Aktau, Kazakhstan in order to increase export of Azerbaijani products into the Central Asian market. Government of Azerbaijan set high priority for further improvement of country’s transit potential. The Coordinating Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Transit Freight was established in 2015 with the aim to increase the competitiveness and effectiveness of the transit corridors passing through its territory, involvement of additional transit flows to these corridors, including improvement of transportation quality, decreasing delivery time and lowering transport expenses.