Kazakhstan expects bonus from transit traffic

By 2020, revenues fr om transit traffic should bring up to 5 billion tenge to the treasury of Kazakhstan. This task was set by the Head of State in his recent address to the nation. The transport sector of the country is already becoming a stable source of income for the national budget. Over the past 10 years, the total investment in the development of the industry was about $30 billion. More than 2 thousand km of railways were built during this time. Over 6 thousand km of motor roads were reconstructed. Port capacities in the Caspian increased to 23.5 million tonnes of cargo. Reconstruction was carried out in 15 airports across the country.

“In 2017, the revenue from transit amounted to about 350 billion tenge, five years it was 150 billion tenge. The infrastructure has been improved. A dry port was built on the border with China, the port of Aktau was expanded, the railway terminal in the Kuryk port was launched last year, and the Kuryk port’s automobile terminal will be launched this year,” said logistics oficial Dastan Ramazanov.

The length of the republican roads is almost 24 thousand kilometers. This figure will increase by 2020. Now, construction and reconstruction of several highways is underway. One kilometer of the route of the first category costs an average of 500-million tenge on the budget. Some of them will subsequently be paid - this means that the funds from their operation will be directed to further development of the industry.

“The Almaty-Astana-Kostanai link and the road from Astana leading to the border with the Russian Federation have been completed. Astana-Almaty highway is under construction. In the next two or three years, we will complete the works. The Omsk-Kapshagai highway, also an international corridor, has been completed up to Pavlodar; a highway from Kalbatau to the border with China will be completed in two years. This is wh ere we will have Kapshagai checkpoint,” as observed by deputy chairman of the Kazakh Roads Committee Sairanbek Barmakov.

In general, the active construction of transport and logistics infrastructure had a positive impact on Kazakhstan's performance in international ratings. So, in 2016 according to the index of logistics efficiency, the republic took 77th place among 160 countries. Having risen by 11 positions in comparison with 2014, Kazakhstan outstripped such countries as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia.

The World Bank Index measures the efficiency of supply in international trade every 2 years. According to experts, the indicators will grow every year. Mostly due to the start of a major innovative project - the Intelligent Transport System.

“This is a single platform that, with the use of information technology, unites transport users, the infrastructure and transport. These roads will be equipped with the corresponding components of the Intelligent Transport System. This is a weather station, which will report online the grip on the roads, weather conditions and the visibility, chairman of the Kazakh Transport Committee Aset Asabaev explained.

The smart system will increase security on Kazakh roads by an average of 30%. Implementing the intellectual transport technology will accomplished with the help of public-private partnerships. The expected economic effect of the system is estimated at 460 billion tenge. The projects’ development is underway. By 2020 all roads in Kazakhstan will work as a single smart system.

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