BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 28. Construction of a new container terminal will be launched at the Baku port, said the Head of the Strategic Planning and Development Department of Baku International Sea Trade Port (BISTP) CJSC Khudayar Hasanli at a regional event in Georgia in connection with the Middle Corridor, TurkicWorld reports.

BISTP will expand its activities through increased transshipment of container cargo.

"In the second half of 2024, development of a container terminal will commence in the Baku port, which will also be used for container transportation between the Baku port and the Georgian ports," he noted.

According to him, these efforts are related to the expansion of the Middle Corridor international transportation route.

“To develop the Middle Corridor, infrastructure facilities must be improved. Our container transportation capacities will rise, since if the infrastructure is insufficient, then digitalization and other advances won't help attract more cargo from China,” Hasanli added.

BISTP can presently handle 15 million tons of freight each year, including 100,000 TEU containers. After the second stage of port expansion is completed, it will be capable of handling up to 25 million tons of cargo annually, including 500,000 TEU containers.

The Middle Corridor has been operational since February 2014, with active participation from the transportation entities of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. Ukraine, Romania, and Poland are also involved in the project, and the corridor with a unified tariff transports goods between China and Europe.

In 2023, the Middle Corridor moved 2.75 million tons of freight, up 86 percent from 2022.