A New railway corridor along Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Islamic Republic of Iran (KTI) has been constructed and was put in operation at the end of 2014.

A New railway corridor along Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Islamic Republic of Iran (KTI) has been constructed and was put in operation at the end of 2014. To commercialize the railway transport operations along the KTI corridor, a study project was initiated with the cooperation of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), UNESCAP and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to identify the main physical and non-physical barriers, to examine the current status of freight flows and feasibility of further enhancement and come up with a common management mechanism for the Corridor (CMM).

The main features of KTI identified in the course of the study:

After completion of the Studies Virtual Meetings on the Study Project of Commercialization of Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran (KTI) were held on 19 May, 10 June and 16 June 2020, respectively with the participation of the railway authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Representatives of UNESCAP and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), as well as officials of the ECO Secretariat were participating in all 3 meetings.

The aim of the online meetings was to assess the initial outcomes of the studies on physical, non-physical barriers and freight flows along the KTI railway corridor and to get views/comments of the KTI en-route countries, as well as proposals/options for a corridor management mechanism.

During the virtual meetings the representatives of the KTI railway en-route Member States appreciated the quality of the studies and the proposal of the Corridor Management Mechanism done by the ESCAP consultancy team and expressed their best wishes for the KTI corridor and its commercially sustainable operationalization.

All KTI en-route countries agreed to work together in coordinated way with each other for operationalization of the corridor and fully supported the draft CMM and are ready to consider signing MoU to set up institutional mechanism for KTI corridor.

Further the meetings agreed that the KTI en-route Member States will provide their proposals/comments/views on the draft CMM in written to the ECO Secretariat within the stipulated time for its final decision.