Attendants of the 3rd Caspian Forum hosted by Istanbul on December 4-5 have stated in a declaration that the Caspian Region will become the center for trade between the East and the West once again, reviving the Silk Road, Trend reports.
The region is an essential transit corridor for diversification of economy, development of trade, investments in the territory from China to the UK, including East Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Europe.
The Asian Development Bank says that development of the Caspian Transit Corridor would boost the GDP in the region by at least 16-17%. Its influence will total 50% by 2020.
The Caspian Forum considers the Southern Gas Corridor as a significant energy aspect of the region. The corridor will allow energy resources and gas from the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, Turkmenistan and North Iraq to be transported. The Forum considers transportation and energy the two pillars for the new definition of the Caspian Region.
