Prospects for the development of the “Middle Corridor” became the central topic of the webinar of the Edinburgh Business School, according to the correspondent of the Kazinform agency in London.

During a webinar entitled “The Middle Corridor and the Future of Trade between Great Britain and Central Asia” held on Wednesday, representatives of the academic community, expert circles and business discussed the potential of the route connecting Asia and Europe through the territory of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s gas and oil supplies pass, once again exposed the vulnerability of global energy chains. Markets are bracing for a prolonged period of volatility amid the ongoing standoff between the US, Israel and Iran.

Additional risks are created by the activity of Yemen’s Houthis, who threaten the security of the Bab el-Mandeb strait. it is the key route between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Instability in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, only exacerbates the threats to global trade and shipping.

“The crisis around the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting the vulnerability of traditional routes, has drawn renewed attention to the risks of dependence on narrow transport hubs and alternative and emerging routes such as «Middle corridor», to the need to pay more attention,” said Arzu Abasova, a researcher at the British Defense Research Institute, in her speech.

John Easton, professor of sustainable transport at the Edinburgh Business School, noted that the main problem of the “Middle Corridor” is not related to the infrastructure of the central sector, but to the final, first of all, congestion of the European networks. According to him, this factor may limit further growth.

He pointed out the difficulties of implementing the unified European system of train traffic management, which is designed to speed up the movement of rolling stock on the territory of Europe. However, in practice this model is still far from working perfectly, although in the long run it should significantly simplify logistics.

“The problem is that the introduction of a single European rail traffic management system in Europe is significantly behind schedule. Currently, only about 10-20 percent of the continent’s rail network is equipped with this system, while the target date of 2030 is fast approaching,” John Easton emphasized.

According to him, the increase in the price of rolling stock also becomes an additional challenge. The introduction of new technologies increases the costs, which mainly fall on the shoulders of freight transport operators.

Today, the European Union remains the largest external contributor along the Middle Corridor, supported by a €10 billion investment commitment to strengthen Central Asia’s connectivity.

UK interest is also gradually increasing. Policymakers and think tanks are increasingly paying attention to the route’s strategic importance, and British expertise in infrastructure financing, regulatory standards and export mechanisms is seen as a potentially important resource for future trade interactions.

“Its long-term success will depend not only on infrastructural investments, but also on coordination, institutional trust and operational reliability,” said Dr. Asilbek Nurgabdeshov of Edinburgh Business School, who moderated the discussion.

In his estimation, during the coming decade, the “Middle Corridor” is able to significantly expand the economic interaction of Great Britain and the European Union with Central Asia and the South Caucasus in several strategic areas at once.

 Earlier, the European expert told how Central Asia is strengthening its position in global logistics.

TIMUR DUSEKEYEV

Source: Kazinform

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