Improving Transnational Transport Corridors
In the OIC Member Countries: Concepts and Cases
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2. Bottom-up Mechanism
Projects and technical assistance related to corridor completion and/or improvement (e.g.
road asset management, road safety, transport facilitation, railway strategy) are country-
driven. CAREC countries and development partners strive to align regional initiatives with
national transport needs and plans.
3. Interactive Approach
CAREC regularly holds meetings and workshops to discuss challenges and opportunities
for regional cooperation through CAREC. CAREC also facilitates consistent
communication and coordination to implement regional corridor projects/initiatives. In
2016 for example, two strategies were developed in response to CAREC countries’
concern for road safety and the need for a more integrated railway planning in the region.
embodies CAREC countries’ commitment to prioritizing
road safety as they continue to implement road projects, while the
provides a long-term guide for coordinated railway planning in the CAREC
region.
4.4.3. Economic factors
The countries along CAREC 3 are characterized as economies in transition. These countries are
also transit countries for international cargo. Shipments have to cross multiple borders, which
results in high transport costs and low competitiveness of the goods in international markets.
Based on EoDB, the Kyrgyz Republic performs best among the corridor countries. As shown in
the times taken to complete border and documentary processes are very low (20-21
hours). This is also confirmed by its OI as indicated in Table 23 shows that Kyrgyz Republic is
the most open trading country followed by Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The OI of Kazakhstan is
the lowest after Uzbekistan, most likely due to weak business environment and large distances
to global markets. The government has struggled to build a diversified manufacturing sector
and the economy remains highly dependent on commodity exports (The Economist
Intelligence Unit, 2016).
In average, the total times taken and costs of exports in the corridor countries are very high.
The average times and costs for Europe and Central Asia are at least 50% less.