In the second half of December, a group of engineering and technical specialists from Turkmenistan will visit Afghanistan to familiarize themselves with the conditions of railway construction in the neighboring country and collect data for feasibility studies of projects. This was agreed upon by the participants of the negotiations between the railway administrations of the two countries, which took place in Ashgabat.
According to the press service of the Transport and Communications Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, as reported on https://tca.gov.tm/ru/news-detail/451, Turkmen and Afghan specialists discussed issues related to the construction of railways in Afghanistan and the intensification of international freight transportation. They also discussed the continuation of the 30-kilometer railway line Aqina-Andkhoy, previously laid by Turkmen track builders, the construction of the 10-kilometer section Andkhoy-Sheberghan, as well as the project of the Turgundi-Sanabar-Herat railway branch.
The Afghan side expressed interest in the construction of a railway to Mazar-i-Sharif.
The talks focused on the possibilities of enhancing freight traffic by railroads to increase both bilateral trade and Afghanistan's trade with other Central Asian countries. The leadership of the Afghan railway authority expressed great interest in cooperation with Turkmenistan in the development of the Lapis Lazuli corridor and the creation of efficient multimodal transportation schemes to increase transit potential and attract freight flows from other countries, including India and Pakistan.
During the four-day meeting, the parties managed to agree on a number of measures for technical cooperation, for the development of which it was decided to establish a joint committee to improve coordination. They discussed important issues of improving tariff policy and pricing for transportation, the adjustment of which will contribute to the growth of export-import and transit commodity flows through the territory of Afghanistan. Another topic of the negotiations was the establishment of interdepartmental exchange of current information on railway transportation.
In order to study the market and analyze the demand for transport services, a Turkmen delegation with the participation of logistics companies is also scheduled to visit the neighboring country.
