NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) National Company CEO Sauat Mynbayev and China Railway General Director Lu Dongfu have continued their negotiations around increasing transit volume, and loosening administrative barriers between China and Kazakhstan in a Sept. 20 virtual meeting, KTZ press service reported.
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy CEO Sauat Mynbayev (R) over a video conference with China Railway General Director Lu Dongfu. Photo credit: KTZ press service.
The transit volume between China and Kazakhstan has been demonstrating positive dynamics despite the pandemic. For the first eight months of 2020, cargo transportation totaled 14.2 million tons, which is 30 percent more than in the same period last year, Lu Dongfu said.
The heads of the national railways expect cargo transportation volume to reach 21 million tons by the end of 2020. The parties reaffirmed their intention to ensure the continuous growth of transit volumes through the Dostyk-Alashankou and Altynkol-Khorgos border crossings.
KTZ has an ongoing project to develop and modernize the infrastructure of the Dostyk station as part of the 2020 – 2025 Nurly Zhol state program for infrastructural development.
According to Mynbayev, the Kazakh government envisaged the first stage of the Modernization of the Dostyk-Moiynty Railway Transport Corridor project. Kazakhstan will overhaul the pathway and will build several railway infrastructure facilities, including the second, main and receiving-departure tracks.
“All this will make it possible to create an unimpeded, accelerated passage of trains through border stations, and to increase the transit volume through the territory of Kazakhstan,” the KTZ press service said in an official statement.
The Kazakh side estimated that the new infrastructural improvements at the Dostyk station will increase its capacity to 1 million twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) by 2025. The speed of the freight traffic across the territory of Kazakhstan should reach 1,300-1,400 kilometers per day.
The parties also discussed further strategic interaction as part of the Nurly Zhol and the Belt and Road Initiative. They expressed confidence that joining their efforts in solving issues and implementing projects will result in greater efficiency, as well as create new products and services in transport and logistics.
KTZ is part of the Samruk Kazyna State Welfare Fund. The company manages the railway, sea port and airport infrastructures, as well as transportation, and logistics centers.
