ASTANA – The world’s largest marine and logistics operator COSCO Shipping plans to invest in the development of Khorgos-Eastern Gate Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located on the border between Kazakhstan and China.
Photo: inform.kz
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) signed on May 15 an investment agreement with COSCO Shipping Corporation and Lianyungang port on the joint development of the Khorgos-Eastern Gate SEZ at One Belt, One Road International Cooperation Forum in Beijing on May 15.
Chinese investors will jointly purchase 49 percent of shares of Khorgos Gateway dry port, part of KTZ operations. Attraction of strategic partners in international logistics market will give an additional impetus to the development of the Khorgos-Eastern Gate and the creation of a large regional hub for the consolidation and distribution of cargo flows between Asia and Europe.
Khorgos-Eastern Gate will become part of the architecture of global logistics services provided by COSCO Shipping and will ensure the integration of Kazakhstan’s transit corridors into the international logistics network.
The signed agreement will contribute to the further development of cooperation between Kazakhstan and China in transport and logistics fields under Kazakh Nurly Zhol and Chinese Silk Road Economic Belt programmes.
Kazakh First Deputy Prime Minister Askar Mamin, Kazakh Minister for Investment and Development Zhenis Kassymbek and Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov attended the signing ceremony.
COSCO Shipping is the world’s largest maritime operator and provider of logistics services. The corporation has more than 1,100 ships with a total capacity of over 1.6 million containers. It operates more than 300 international and domestic sea routes, connecting 254 seaports in 79 countries.
The port of Lianyungang is the largest sea harbour of China in the Yellow Sea, which is included in the 30 largest ports of the world with a handling capacity of more than 200 million tonnes and 5 million containers per year.
