Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliev reported on the development of cross-border hubs at a Government meeting chaired by Olzhas Bektenov.
The Head of State set the task of forming full-fledged transport and logistics hubs in Kazakhstan in Central Asia and the Caspian region. To implement it, transport, logistics and trade centers are being created around the country on the borders with China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, the Russian Federation and on the Caspian coast. The goals, objectives and approaches for the creation and development of cross-border hubs are provided for in the Concept of development of transport and logistics potential of Kazakhstan until 2030. Their creation will accelerate trade cooperation with border countries, increase the growth of non-primary exports by 30%, and simplify logistics procedures for businesses.
The location of the Industrial Trade and Logistics Complex project was chosen in the area adjacent to one of the busiest transit checkpoints: Karasu on the part of Kazakhstan and Ak-Tilek on the part of Kyrgyzstan, which are part of the international automobile corridor Western Europe – Western China.
"The complex will provide services for storage and pre-sale preparation of products, consolidation and redistribution of goods by wholesale lots. To date, a pool of potential residents of ITLK is being formed. A simplified border system and a registration system for vehicles and goods will operate on the territory of the complex, where goods will move across the new bridge, which will significantly relieve the existing checkpoints. Construction work will begin in 2025," the minister said.
The International Center for Industrial Cooperation "Central Asia" will become the largest center in the region for the consolidation, processing and distribution of cargo flows, as well as industrial cooperation within the framework of the North–South corridor.
The center will be located near the checkpoints "Atameken" (Kazakhstan) and "Gulistan" (Uzbekistan), will consist of production sites, warehouses for storage, as well as transport infrastructure. This will speed up the delivery of goods and reduce logistics costs, reduce the number of participants in the supply chain, reduce the cost of the product to the end user and increase the speed of deliveries.
The center will provide the creation of new industries, jobs, processing of agricultural and industrial products, industries in the field of mechanical engineering and metalworking, pharmaceuticals, electrical engineering, chemical, leather and textile and clothing products, including the project of Global Textile LLP for the production of finished textile products.
The creation of the ICPC will favorably affect the further deepening of bilateral trade and economic relations with border countries, activate business ties between manufacturers and entrepreneurs of the two countries, and will stimulate an increase in mutual trade turnover to $ 10 billion in the next 5 years.
But the Eurasia Cross-border Trade Center will be located on the territory adjacent to the airport in Uralsk. It is a hub for cargo flows with access to the cities of Orenburg, Saratov, Samara and further to the largest federal districts of the Russian Federation and Eastern European countries. To implement the Center, an industrial zone has been created for investment projects for the production of paints, polymer coatings, plastic containers/containers and 3D decor panels. The implementation of the Center will bring macroeconomic effects for the West Kazakhstan region: a decrease in the share of total national economic costs for the promotion of goods and goods in the GDP structure by 5%-10%; an increase in the investment attractiveness of production placement projects. The launch of the Eurasia TTC is scheduled for 2026.
The Khorgos Hub is an integral element of expanding the transit potential of Kazakhstan, and is also part of the global concept of the People's Republic of China – "One Belt, One Road", which takes into account the geographical location, infrastructure potential with access to Europe and the Middle East.
According to Arman Shakkaliev, the implementation of the Khorgos Node project consists in the interconnection and integration of infrastructure facilities to increase exports, transit and the development of industrial cooperation. It will give an impetus to the development of trade and economic cooperation on the border of Kazakhstan and China.
The Caspian Hub will be aimed at the countries of the Caspian region with a population of more than 100 million people. The practical implementation of the project is the construction of a site for container storage and transshipment from a railway wagon to sea containers, as well as the provision of high–quality service for their processing. The Caspian Hub will allow to increase the volume of transit cargo from China to Europe at TMTM, as well as the development of the Turkmenbashi – Aktau – PRC container line.
One of the projects implemented as part of the development of hubs at the Caspian hub is the project "Construction of a container hub in the Aktau seaport". Work on the implementation of the project has begun. A land plot with an area of 19 hectares has been reserved on the territory of the Aktau Seaport SEZ. An agreement on attracting investments in this project has been signed with a potential investor – the port of LLC GK Port of Lianyungang. International companies PSA International (Singapore), Abu Dhabi Ports Group (UAE), Adani Group (India), and Rhenus (Germany) also expressed interest in participating in the project. The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Transport in cooperation with the Akimat of the Mangystau region. The construction of a container hub in the port of Aktau is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2025.
Another project that gives impetus to the development and expansion of the Kuryk port is the construction of the multifunctional Sarzha marine terminal. The investor is the SEMURG INVEST company. The project involves the construction of a general cargo terminal, a universal terminal, a bulk cargo terminal, as well as a transport and logistics center and a production complex with a total capacity of about 10 million tons. General cargo transshipment has been underway since November 2023, and more than 73 thousand tons of metal and fertilizers have been processed to date. The project completion date is 2026.
"To date, the measures and procedures for the adoption of organizational and administrative documents necessary for the creation of hubs have been fully completed. In particular, two intergovernmental agreements have been signed with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and industrial zones have been created," Arman Shakkaliyev said.
The Minister also stressed that the creation of production facilities together with border countries by building a system of cross-border hubs as priority development zones will contribute to:
strengthening the role of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the system of transcontinental and interstate economic corridors;
the growth of trade turnover between the countries and the strengthening of strategic relations;
development of industrial cooperation and transport and logistics infrastructure;
development of the export potential of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
the organization of modern multimodal hubs for servicing international cargo flows.
Source: https://primeminister.kz/ru/news/sozdanie-prigranichnykh-transportno-logisticheskikh-khabov-uvelichit-eksport-nesyrevykh-tovarov-na-30-29451

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mti/press/news/details/900516