Kazakhstan has potential to become transport hub of Eurasia - Yerlan Karin

He emphasized that the issue of development of the transport infrastructure and expansion of transit corridors has always had special importance for Kazakhstan. Thanks to its geographical location Kazakhstan has always been considered the key transit hub between Europe and Asia. A number of large-scale projects in this sphere have already been implemented. In total, about 2.5 thousand railroads have been built in more than 20 years in Kazakhstan. Moreover, the majority of them were built in the last five-six years.

"Kazakhstan is obviously interested in development of new transregional and continental transport corridors. Kazakhstan develops in many spheres, and development of the infrastructure that is critical to Kazakhstan in terms of its plans to become the key transport hub in Eurasian is the necessity," he emphasized.

Y. Karin also did not rule out the possibility of the competition in development of transport corridors. "The American initiative named the New Silk Road gas been hotly discussed by the experts lately. Besides, the Silk Road Economic Belt Program of China is now implemented. The competition of the projects is a natural process, and more important, the alternatives are needed because it pushes further development," he added.

The head of the Kazakh Institute for Strategic Studies noted that transport projects were not just about the road or direction, they were about the new form of cooperation between the countries. He also emphasized the necessity of consolidation of the efforts of experts and more effective cooperation between expert centers and community.

"In this regard, we propose establishment of a type of a community of analytical structures of the countries involved in formation of the new Silk Road. We think it should be a permanently functioning expert platform holding discussions of different issues regarding transport corridors in Eurasia," Yerlan Karin said.