The Western Europe – Western China Transcontinental Transit Corridor is one of the most promising projects of the modern times. The highway is set to strengthen ties between European and Asian countries. The road is 8,445 kilometers long. The section going through Kazakhstan will total 2,787 kilometers.
Experts are estimating the economic effect the project will induce over the upcoming years. According to the economic forecasts, Kazakhstan’s annual income will total at least 200 billion tenges (€471.8 mln). Companies from Kazakhstan, South Korea and Turkey have been involved in the construction of the highway.
Abdrakhman Daubayev, involved in construction planning, stated that the highway currently meets all the international requirements. The axle load the road can endure is 13 tonnes. The Transit Corridor will allow Kazakhstan to reach its transit and export potential.
Kazakh-tv.kz quoted Gabit Orazov, the Head of the Customs Control Department, as saying : “Over the past 11 months, we performed customs clearance of the transit goods from China. We performed a total of 261, 502 declarations, which is 20 percent higher than in 2017. The numbers show an increase in the transit potential and transit traffic in general. The multimodal transport corridor was constructed as part of the implementation of the 65th step of the National Plan.”
“About 300 roadside service facilities operate along Kazakhstan’s section of Western Europe - Western China Highway. The number of motor tourists increased due to well-developed infrastructure and the high-quality roadbed. Over 30 million tonnes of freight is expected to be transported annually along this section by 2020.”
