Victoria Panfilova, an observer of Nezavisimaya Gazeta exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
The President of Kazakhstan has proposed establishing a new high-speed multimodal transport route – the Eurasian Transcontinental Corridor (ETC). Nursultan Nazarbayev stated this at the 8th Astana Economic Forum (AEF) in which scientists, politicians, businessmen, and economists from 30 countries participated. According to Nazarbayev, the new transport route “will pass through the whole territory of Kazakhstan; it will enable to provide a smooth transfer from Asia to Europe and back.” The route will be much shorter than the current routes across the ocean and through the Suez Canal. Existing sea trade routes cannot satisfy the growing demands of international trade, while the land route will be three times shorter and much safer. “Security is beneficial for everybody,” Nazarbayev stressed.
The Eurasian Bank for Development (EABD) expressed its interest in crediting the project of ETC. According to Dmitry Pankin, the head of the EABD Board, the project will be implemented in installments – each stage will have certain plans, terms and will involve a pool of loaners and participants of the project, as “the Eurasian Transcontinental Corridor is not considered to be a coherent project at the moment.” “It is interesting for us to participate in pools as well,” Pankin said at the forum. He thinks the idea of the project is right, as the absence of effective infrastructure, including transport corridors, prevents the countries of the region from developing.
Kazakhstan didn't invent the project of the ETC yesterday. Several years ago Astana started construction of the first part of the automobile highway ‘Western Europe – Western China,’ which is 8 thousand km long; 3 thousand km of it passes through Kazakhstan. “This part of the construction will be finished in 2015. It is expected that the volume of cargo in Kazakhstan’s part will be up to 30 million tons annually. The highway will connect not only China and Kazakhstan, but also Russia and Europe; the countries of Central Asia will also have access to it,” the head of state said.
This is beneficial not only for Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev says that today volumes of turnover between China and the European Union are almost $600 billion; according to forecasts, the figure will grow up to $800 billion by 2020.
“The ETC has been existing for 20 years under different names,” Kubat Rahimov, an expert on infrastructural projects of Central Asia, the head of Smart Business Solutions Central Asia Company, told Vestnik Kavkaza. One of the most well-known options is the Transport Corridor of Europe-Caucasus-Asia (Traseka), which was developed by the US and the EU, or the Trans-Siberian Railway.
“Data on transit revenues, which is presented by various official sources and reporters, is different. Some say about 25% of revenues of railways; others say that it is a bit higher than 5%. Thus, the project would be easy to fulfill,” Rahimov said.
According to him, these projects are needed to restart Kazakhstan’s economy. This is a kind of Roosevelt's New Deal in a local interpretation. The real volumes of transfers won’t be profitable in the next 5-10 years; i.e. it is a purely Keynesian method of encouraging the economy through construction of infrastructure. “That’s why it is important to remember two moments: 1) the restart of economy through establishing a transit corridor has grounds and goals which are different from the goals of transfer and transit in general; 2) even though Kazakhstan is a large country, it comes to Russia or the Caspian Sea in the west at the end. Therefore, the corridor should remember about this factor,” Kubat Rahimov said.
According to the expert, if the Trans-Siberian Railway failed to work on the transit regime between Asia and Europe, even though Russia has borders with the EU and China, it means difficulties in the functioning of the whole system of land corridors and consideration of the country’s factors.
The leader of Kazakhstan also suggests establishing a United Eurasian Economic Space and a permanent platform in the space, which will develop ideas on development of the continent and improvement of integration. He thinks that the Astana Economic Forum could become such a platform. Nazarbayev thinks that common rules which will consider national interests of all participants and encourage elimination of barriers should be adopted in the united space. “The rules should touch on trade, transportation, and transfer of resources,” the President of Kazakhstan noted. “Establishing the economic belt of the Silk Road is a foundation for the United Economic Space.”
