- 4
- 19.08.2023 07:48:00
- 3 min read
Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed that if these roads are built, Uzbekistan will also become a state of interest through the tariff, it will not depend on someone.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, during his open dialogue with entrepreneurs on August 18, touched on the importance of the Transafgan railway "Termez–Mazari-Sharif–Kabul–Peshawar" and called it "the most suitable route for Uzbekistan".
He mentioned that the problem that currently afflicts entrepreneurs the most is road costs.
"First of all, if we say that [the existing roads] are expensive, long and not safe, it will be right... if 30 years ago, between 30 years, the Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan–China Railway was built, now your conditions, the cost would be completely different," he said.
The head of state noted that the railway passing through Afghanistan was "the most desirable, cheapest, safest route to South Asia."
"Imagine that these days will come anyway if God wants to, how our economy will be stable if two railways are built. We're not addicted to someone. If there are these two large railways, we will also become a state of interest through the tariff," Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.
The president added that the current situation is not light.
"If to be honest, we live in harsh conditions. The moon is not on the moon, the day is not on the day. The pressure on Valuta yesterday is getting heavier today. Therefore, we must, of course, create conditions for the class of entrepreneurs, for export to businessmen, for logistics," said the head of state.
In February 2021, a roadmap was signed in Tashkent between Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan on the construction of the "Mozori-Sharif—Kabul—Peshawar" Railway. The project was scheduled to be prepared in may, with road construction scheduled to begin in September 2021. But the exchange of power in Afghanistan had slowed the project.
Nevertheless, in December, the Afghan provisional government joined the project. On July 18, 2022, an expedition to determine the direction of the Transafgan railway and the feasibility study of the project began on the territory of this country.
The Boshtransloyiha Institute of Uzbekistan estimated the cost of road construction at $ 4.6 billion and Pakistan at $ 8.2 billion. According to the media, the project was estimated at $ 4.8 billion to $ 6 billion. It provides for the construction of a highway 573 km long and capable of carrying up to 20 mln tons of freight per year. The new transport corridor should connect the countries of the European Union, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and later Southeast Asia.
In July 2023, the final stage of negotiations on the project began. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2027.
