ASTANA – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev participated in a teleconference launching the transportation and logistics terminal in Chinese Xi’an, a joint project between Kazakhstan and China, on Wesnesday.
The event followed an agreement between the leaders of Kazakhstan and China to construct a logistics center in the dry port of Xi’an, which will connect the Chinese city of Shaanxi with Kazakhstan, Central Asia and Europe.
Xi’an is China’s pivotal transit hub and the country’s largest dry port. Up to 40% of Chinese container trains going to the European Union (EU) are formed here.
The project capacity of Kazakhstan’s terminal in Xi’an is over 66,500 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year. The terminal is expected to open access to new markets for Kazakh exporters, significantly reduce cargo delivery time and strengthen Kazakhstan’s position as a reliable transit hub in Eurasia.
Following the terminal launch, President Tokayev opened an Innovation Center jointly established by Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) national railway company and Chinese Huawei.
“This is a project launched within the framework of the global ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative. Kazakhstan fully supports the initiative announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013 in our country. Thanks to this initiative, the construction of the center was completed in the shortest possible time. All this is the result of the successful partnership between the two countries,” said Tokayev.
“This project will give new impetus to the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor and strengthen trade and economic cooperation in Eurasia. Specialists from Kazakhstan and China took part in the construction of this center. I express my great gratitude to all those involved,” he added.
According to KTZ Chairman Nurlan Sauranbayev, the Innovation Center was created to implement the Smart Railway project, which provides digital solutions to improve rail transport efficiency.
Among these solutions is developing and implementing a seamless digital corridor along the Trans-Caspian route by KTZ in collaboration with Singaporean PSA International logistics company. The system saves time and makes the transportation process transparent, thus making Kazakhstan attractive for trade flows.
KTZ infrastructure and services are also being modernized using cloud solutions, Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI).
Implementing innovative IT solutions is key, as Tokayev prioritized Kazakhstan becoming the central transit hub on the continent.
“Kazakhstan has formed a solid foundation for the introduction of advanced IT solutions. The domestic railroad industry should urgently join the digital race,” said Tokayev.
“Through accelerated digitalization, we will significantly improve transportation efficiency and optimize costs in the very near future. This will give a powerful impetus to the development of not only the transportation and logistics sector but the entire economy as well,” he added.
