Signing an important investment agreement in Bishkek, the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway Company LLC made a crucial step toward the further development of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.
Just moments after Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov announced the official start of the construction on December 27, the agreement regarding the financing, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the railway was formalized.
The signature to the deal was made by Kyrgyzstan Minister of Transport and Communications Absattar Syrgabaev and Chairman of the Board of Directors of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway Company LLC, Zhong Shenggui. The occasion was graced with the presence of Kyrgyz Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry Bakyt Torobayev; Saidikram Iyazkhodjaev, Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan; and Li Baojie, Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan.
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“Today we have signed an agreement that may be regarded as performed in the history of the three countries on long negotiations and incubation of future practical implementation,” stated Torobayev, emphasizing the importance of this mega infrastructure project, which was regional and global at once.
This is indeed a major development in the infrastructure projects for the transport strategies of the countries involved in this agreement. None of Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan currently has a railroad link exclusively with China, while Central Asia is connected with China by a route through Kazakhstan.
When completed, the railway is expected to carry up to 15 million tons of cargo per annum, thus greatly promoting the region’s trade and connectivity.