Freight Costs Reduction to Boost Central Asia’s Trade
In order to cut Freight costs Tajikistan acceded to the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific in the year 2022. Digital Cross border trade is the new frontier of logistic artificial intelligence (AI ) .After the Uzbekistan – Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement Uzbekistan would also be a beneficiary as it would have an alternative route for its exports by gaining access to the international seaports of Pakistan and container freight and logistic costs would significantly reduce.
Courtesy IRU
TIR
The Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) is an International Customs Transit System managed by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and operates under a UN mandate. The TIR facilitates the seamless and digital movement of sealed containers through transit countries and harmonises and streamlines customs  procedures at borders .
Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan Route
 Courtesy EURACTIV.com
Recent achievements of the TIR in the backdrop of Central Asian Republics connectivity are the containerised transport of tanned leather from Kyrgyzstan via Uzbekistan and Afghanistan to the international seaports of Pakistan and this may present an alternate trade route and access to ports for the landlocked Central Asian Republics in the near to medium term .The strategic economic depth of Pakistan would extend to the heart of Central Asia . To achieve this objective the authorities would have to remove the existing chaotic conditions , upgrade dilapidated road infrastructure and congestion , parking areas, establish e portal and introduce and enforce e bills of lading for the cargo at border crossing into land locked Afghanistan. Allegations are rampant that extortion takes place in broad daylight .Trucks or containers that cross the Pakistan – Afghan border at Torkham have to pay exacting amounts as speed money to customs officials which deprive both countries of its legitimate revenues , distort trade dynamics besides enhancing cost of doing business and freight costs.
Transit Trade Entry Rates Charged by Uzbekistan
After the shifting of the theater of conflict from Afghanistan to Ukraine access to the traditional northern cargo transportation routes for Central Asia has become significantly constrained. For Uzbekistan particularly, the shortest route to the Arabian Sea commences at its Afghan border and trade with Afghanistan reached almost U $ 867 million in the year 2023. A significant portion of Afghan imports transit via the Hairatan-Mazar-i-Sharif railway constructed with the participation of Uzbekistan and international financial organizations in the year 2011 and both Afghanistan and Uzbekistan generate revenue from the transit of goods in the trans-Afghan direction. The planned Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway or Trans-Afghan Railway will span 647 kilometers, cutting transit time from Pakistan to Uzbekistan from 35 days to around 3-5Â days reducing the cost of transporting one container by one third. By the year 2030 the potential cargo flow through the Trans-Afghan Railway will be about 22 million tons per year. This alternative transport corridor perhaps to diversify external trade routes from the present route from Uzbekistan to Iran through Turkmenistan , which had been created under the Ashgabat agreement in the year 2011, is a recent logistic shift . Transit entry rates for Uzbek trucks are in the range of $ 350- $ 800 for entering Turkmenistan, while the maximum rate for Turkmen drivers for transit through Uzbekistan are $375 to achieve parity. For cargo originating from European Union and Azerbaijan , Uzbekistan has differentiated tariffs depending on the length of stay , in the range of $80 for entry up to 14 days and $280 for more than 14 days.
For Iran the rate has been reset to zero.
Fees for other countries are as under:
Tajikistan — $100-150-200 depending on tonnage;
Kazakhstan — $300
Kyrgyzstan — $300
Afghanistan — $50
Other countries                                            —                                                $400
By Nadir Mumtaz
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