Freight transportation on the Islamabad - Tehran - Istanbul route is more profitable in terms of time and cost savings compared to sea transportation between Pakistan and Turkey and will contribute to the development of trade between the two countries, Transport and Infrastructure Minister of Turkey Adil Karaismailoglu said, TurkicWorld reports via local media outlets.
The movement of freight trains on the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul route between Pakistan, Iran and Turkey was resumed at the end of December. The project, launched in 2009, was put on hold in 2011. Travel time on this route is 10 days (by sea - 35 days).
Karaismailoglu reminded that in 2021, Turkey's share in world exports for the first time exceeded 1 percent, the country brought the volume of export operations to a record value of $225 billion.
Turkey increased exports last year by 33 percent, while world trade rose 10 percent, the minister said.
According to him, the rapidly developing trade relations between Asia and Europe require the expansion of transport infrastructure in the region. Over the past 19 years, Turkey has invested more than 1 trillion 145 billion liras in the country's transport and communication infrastructure.
Ankara is making every effort to create uninterrupted and high-quality transport infrastructure between continents by creating international corridors, he said.
The minister said that thanks to hundreds of completed projects, Turkey has become a key country in the system of international railway corridors.
"Thanks to the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, it became possible to effectively use the Middle Corridor in rail freight traffic between China and Europe. Now the route from China to Turkey with a length of 12,000 kilometers can be overcome in 12 days", Karaismailoglu said.
The minister stressed that Turkey is striving to reduce travel time between China and Turkey to 10 days.
Karaismailoglu believes the railway line contributes to Turkey's export target of $250 billion.
The head of the Ministry of Transport noted that the volume of railway cargo transportation in Turkey in 2021 amounted to 38.5 million tons, in international cargo transportation a 24-percent increase was provided.
