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Weekly Lists
April 27, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 26
bne:
Infrastructure
Central Asian nations reaffirm commitment to China's BRI but Indian support not forthcoming
Austrian logistics company to expand terminal in Georgia
The foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, alongside those of Pakistan and Russia, have “reaf- firmed support for China’s Belt and Road proposal”, a communique from a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting on April 24 said. The statement also revealed that the Indian foreign minis- ter did not express support from New Delhi for the huge Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
BRI seeks to turn Central Asia into a transit hub with modern in- frastructure for exporting Chinese goods to Europe and vice versa. While China’s ability to attract India to the table appears to be key to the full success of BRI, the role of the Central Asian nations will remain unchanged.
Austrian transport and logistics company Gebrüder Weiss has an- nounced plans to commit a further €2mn to expand its terminal in Georgia, board member Senger-Weiss said during a meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, according to a Geor- gian government statement.
Georgia is on one of the key transit corridors between Europe and Asia that are currently being revived under international initiatives like China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). According to the Georgian National Investment Agency, 65% to 95% of cargo flow in Georgia is transit. However, logistics infrastructure is so far under-developed.
To date, Gebrüder Weiss has invested €10mn in its terminal in Tbilisi, which is one of the largest in the South Caucasus region.
Macedonia held a ceremony on April 23 for the opening of the 28.2km motorway section Demir Kapija-Smokvica, part of the highway that leads to Greece.
The motorway is part of the pan-European Corridor X that runs between Austria and Greece via Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedo- nia. The new section will shorten the journey from Skopje to Greece by around 25 minutes and will increase safety on the road. The construc- tion was launched during the previous VMRO-DPMNE government.
“With this section, and with the final works on the rehabilitation of the highway section from Negotino to Demir Kapija, we are completely closing the part of the Pan-European Corridor X, passing through our country,” Macedonian Social Democrat Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said at the ceremony, according to the government statement.
Macedonia opens 28.2km southern Corridor X motorway section