BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 14. Latvia is actively cooperating with Central Asia, in order to connect the TRACECA corridor with the Baltic States, including connections to Scandinavia and Western Europe with regular ferry lines, a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia told Trend.
"Our transport and logistics systems continue to serve as a gateway for Central Asian export to Europe. Cargo turnover between the Central Asian countries and Latvia is growing and Latvian ports are actively providing cargo distribution services of bulk, liquid and general cargoes from Central Asia. Also, road carriers from Central Asia are actively using the route via Latvian ports to access Northern and Western Europe," the ministry said.
According to the MFA, secure, stable and reliable supply chains between the EU and Central Asia have become the highest priority, since traditional logistics chains are broken. In this regard, trade and transport connectivity issues have to be addressed immediately.
"We eagerly awaited the results of the EBRD Study, since the development of alternative routes stands high on our agenda already for a while. Together with the industry we are actively identifying new clients, who can use new alternative routes. Moreover, in a long term we also are looking forward to see the Rail Baltica project to be implemented, which will open new possibilities for the transport connectivity," the source added.
Moreover, as the ministry pointed out, Latvia is one of the EU Member States that is actively committed to strengthening relations between the EU and Central Asia.
"We welcome the active dialogue and the regular exchange of high-level visits between the EU and Central Asia and we are truly glad to see that Central Asia is also interested to deepen cooperation with the EU. We should take advantage of the Global Gateway that aims to create smart, sustainable and secure links with countries around the world in the thematic areas of digitalization, energy, transport, education," the ministry said.
