ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s largest transport and logistics centre (TLC) was launched with an official presentation Nov. 12 attended by city Akim (Mayor) Adilbek Dzhaksybekov, Minister for Investment and Development Asset Issekeshev and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) President Askar Mamin. The event was also attended by representatives of government bodies, distribution and brokerage companies and Kazakh and foreign producers.
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) President Askar Mamin (L) Akim (Mayor) of Astana Adilbek Dzhaksybekov and Minister for Investment and Development Asset Issekeshev at the launch ceremony for Astana’s new transport and logistics centre.
TLCs are a combination of facilities for the storage, processing and consolidation of products for industrial purposes, as well as consumer goods. Located on Karaganda-Astana Highway, the class A TLC is the biggest not only in Kazakhstan, but in Central Asia. Its construction is an important stage in the development of the country’s transport and logistics sector, and the centre will provide 850 new jobs.
“Today, we are witnessing one of the important events for the development of logistics competence in Kazakhstan. We have opened our transport and logistics centre here in Astana, the main goals and objectives of which are connected with the initiative of the President on the development of transport and logistics competence and on the development of a transit hub in our country,” said KTZ Vice President Kanat Alpysbayev during the presentation.
According to the external and internal terminal network programme, additional TLCs will be constructed in Aktau, Aktobe, Almaty, Atyrau, Kostanai, Pavlodar, Semey and Uralsk. Shymkent TLC will be ready by the end of this year.
“The creation of the TLC internal network in major cities of Kazakhstan will allow us to cover the needs of regions in modern storage facilities at an international level and to create distribution centres covering the regions of neighbouring countries,” said Alpysbayev.
He also spoke about the opportunities of the TLC, which will provide comprehensive storage services with a full cycle of multimodal logistics. The facility has dry warehouses with an area of 29,300 square metres, climatic warehouses measuring 13,300 square metres, a 25,000-square metre distribution centre and an area for containers with 70,000 square metres of available space.
The principle of multimodal transportation also applies to the TLC, as receipt and shipment of goods from trains to cars and back have been organised within the hub. Five kilometres of sidings are directly connected to the warehouse.
The automation of the infrastructure accompanies the process in real time. The use of advanced technologies will allow the facility to significantly increase the level and speed of the loading and unloading of goods and process up to 1 million tonnes of cargo per year.
