The role of the transport system in boosting Turkmenistan’s economic growth is increasing. Tapping the potential of the Turkmenbashi international seaport that has been serving in recent years as a promising logistics centre at the intersection of major routes of Asia and Europe has played a special role in this process. An analyst for Central Asia Vadim Shagiakhmedov comments on this issue in an interview with CentralAsia.news.
The construction of the Turkmenbashi international seaport was of huge importance to build a modern transport and transit system in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea Basin. The well-developed infrastructure of the facility enabled Turkmenistan to pursue a proactive and effective policy in this area with broad support from the UN. In the context of economic globalization, participants in talks on global transport infrastructure development are growing in numbers.
The influence of the Turkmenbashi sea harbour on the involvement of new states, companies, international institutions and organisations in global projects is an indisputable fact. This is because the countries of the region are joining a diversified, integrated and coordinated transportation system, including the Eurasian space and the outlets to the terminals in the Black and Baltic Seas, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East, as well as to the ports of the Asia-Pacific region.
Turkmenistan is implementing the large-scale programme to create, develop and modernise transport infrastructure, which is arousing keen interest in the sea harbour among the countries of the region and the world. The task of optimising the transportation system and improving the quality of transportation services is most relevant at the present time, when many countries all over the world are fighting the economic crisis.
The opening of the «sea gate» of Asia — the Turkmenbashi international port –marked the beginning of the full-scale development of Turkmenistan’s logistics sector and a stable growth in trade and transit freight flows. Turkmen logisticians have been playing a major role in the timely, reliable and safe delivery of goods to and from the country by water transport to the final destination for 6 years since the facility was put into operation.
The number of companies using the services of the Turkmenbashi international seaport that offers excellent storing, handlining and shipping conditions for all types of vehicles is steadily growing. Currently, the enterprises transport goods produced in Turkmenistan to international markets and provide the trading platforms within the country with imported goods at affordable prices.
Such capabilities and services benefit not only the optimisation of logistics processes, but also the industrialization of the country, the increased production of quality goods, the participation of domestically produced goods in foreign trade, their competitiveness, affordability and, as a result, demand on the world market. These indicators contribute to economic strength and economic independence, which is one of the basic prerequisites for the genuine state sovereignty.
The Turkmen port is a universal international terminal equipped with advanced technologies. The launch of the facility, built on the initiative of Hero-Arkadag Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, allowed establishing connections on the sea routes of the Near and Middle East and the Indian Ocean to diversify exports, reduce import costs and increase competitiveness. The Turkmen harbour is continuously strengthening its position as one of the main freight transport coordination points on water, road, rail and air routes.
The port has attracted foreign investment to the region, laid the foundation for direct hydrocarbon supply to foreign consumers and put increased emphasis on gas and petrochemical production. The facility is becoming the largest transport hub in the region and an important link of the North-South and East-West corridors. Another advantage of the Turkmenbashi port is the location on the Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus Asia (TRACECA).
The marine terminal can accommodate various types of vessels all year round and load and unload cargo around the clock, which is one of the main needs of cargo carriers. Furthermore, the port connects Central Asia with Europe through water, land and rail transport. This throughput gives the port the advantage of being the largest transit hub in the region.
Thanks to vigorous and consistent efforts of National Leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the purchase of new ships allowed making the infrastructure of the Turkmenbashi international seaport more sustainable and increasing its throughput.
Through this work, the transit freight and passenger traffic transported by the Berkarar and Bagtyýar vessels from the «sea gate» of Turkmenistan to the transport terminals on the Caspian Sea increased. The major export products are industrial raw materials extracted in Karabogaz in Balkan region, polyethylene and polypropylene produced at the polymer plant in Kiyanly and oil and petroleum products produced at the Turkmenbashi complex of oil refineries. These products are exported from the sea harbour of Turkmenistan to Russia, Turkey and Romania.