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ALMA-ATA, July 6 The potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route should be fully exploited by expanding the volume of trade turnover and cargo transportation, the President said on Saturday Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
“We should make full use of the potential of the Trans-Caspian international transport route. Today, the volume of container traffic along this corridor has doubled compared to 2023. In order to reduce the time of cargo delivery, we launched the multimodal digital platform Digital Trade Corridor. It is closely cooperating with us in this direction Azerbaijani side,» Tokayev said during an informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in the city of Shusha. 
The head of state added that the integration of bilateral railway administrations has been completed, thanks to which last year the volume of cargo transportation along the Middle Corridor increased by 65%, or almost 3 million tons.
“In addition, the capabilities of the maritime hub in the port of Aktau (in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea — ed.) allow us to increase the number of transported containers to 300 thousand. The sea harbor receives ships from the countries of the Caspian Basin and Central Asia,” the head of state noted.
It was previously reported that Kazakhstan and China plan to increase cargo traffic along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route to 10 million tons by 2027. The corresponding intergovernmental agreement on the development of the route was ratified by the Parliament of Kazakhstan on May 29.
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or “Middle Corridor,” runs through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and the Black Sea further to European countries. The TMTM association includes 20 companies, including railway administrations, ports, shipping and other transport companies from eight countries.