Head of EDB Research Centre names condition for Armenia's involvement in Eurasian transport framework (EXCLUSIVE)

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ALMATY, 28 June. /ARKA/. Head of the Integration Research Centre of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) Alexander Zaboev explained in an interview with ARKA news agency what is necessary for the Eurasian Transport Framework project to be effective for Armenia./pp

The Eurasian Transport Framework Project is being actively implemented, including in the interests of Armenia. For example, the North-South road corridor is being built, which will connect with the TRACECA corridor. This creates the effect of corridor coupling, Zaboyev said on the sidelines of the EDB annual meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan./pp

But in addition to the basic infrastructure, of course, it is necessary to develop other transport and logistics infrastructure, such as warehouses and so-called 'dry' ports./pp

The development of a logistics centre in the Armenian city of Gyumri will probably be one of the projects that will make it possible to effectively implement transport corridors. I want to talk about a not quite standard approach: a Eurasian transport framework not only for cargo, but also for passengers, Zaboev said./pp

As an example, he cited Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport, which is a transit hub through which a large number of transit passengers pass./pp

Passenger transit is a net export of transport services, net export revenue of the country, new jobs. Therefore, an increase in passenger traffic - tourist and transfer passengers who pass through the airport, will bring revenue to the budget and create new jobs in the tourism and transport industries, in services that are related to the air transport business, Zaboev said./pp

But cargo can be transported in the same way. Air transport logistics is the potential that Yerevan International Airport has, and it should certainly be realised, Zaboyev summed up./pp

The Eurasian transport framework is based on international transport corridors in the East-West and North-South directions with a length of more than 50,000 kilometres connecting Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The interconnection of the corridors creates a synergistic effect, which is expressed in an increase in freight traffic of up to 40%./pp

The Eurasian transport framework includes five key international transport corridors - the Northern, Central and Southern Eurasian Corridors, the TRACECA ITC and the North-South ITC, supplemented by branch lines and regional routes./pp

EDB analysts estimate the total volume of international freight traffic in 2023 along the five corridors of the Eurasian transport framework at 260 million tonnes, including 3.6 million containers./pp

Compared to 2013, the volume of international container traffic has more than tripled. Foreign trade and transit container traffic in communication with China is growing most dynamically. Since 2013, the number of container trains from and to China via the Eurasian Economic Union and Central Asia has increased 200 times.-0-/pp nbsp;/p