Central Asia

The Government of Kazakhstan has made a number of decisions aimed at implementing the President’s instructions to expand the country’s transport and transit potential. The Ministries of Transport and Finance, together with the Border Service of the National Security Committee, have been instructed to speed up and improve the quality of public services at interstate checkpoints in order to eliminate cargo delays at the border.

A working meeting was held in Warsaw within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea. The Head of the International Relations Department Oleksiy Panasyuk took part from the State Enterprise “Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority” (USPA). The central topic was the presentation of the report on the “Master Plan and Feasibility Study for the Reconstruction of Ukrainian Ports”.

JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy held a meeting with the participation of the country’s leading industrial companies, including Bogatyr Komir, ERG, Zhairemsky GOK, Shubarkol Komir, Qarmet, Kazphosphate and other partners. The participants summed up the work results for the first half of 2025 and discussed future plans.

JSC Kedentransservice and JSC OʻZTEMIRYOLKONTEYNER (Uzbekistan) discussed joint steps to develop container transportation on key routes. The negotiations were aimed at finding new solutions to improve logistics efficiency and strengthen the companies’ positions in international transport corridors.

DP World has signed a memorandum of understanding with ITOCHU, one of Japan’s largest trading corporations, to jointly develop logistics, supply chain infrastructure and distribution in sub-Saharan Africa. The agreement was signed during the TICAD9 conference in Yokohama with the participation of DP World’s Chief Operating Officer for Logistics, Beat Simon, and ITOCHU’s top managers.

The first direct container train has been sent from Chengdu, China, to Antwerp, Belgium, which will transit through Kazakhstan. The specialized DPD train for La Poste includes 55 containers with cross-border e-commerce goods and products requiring cold chain compliance. The route runs through the Altynkol checkpoint, then the train will pass through Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany.

In 2025, two large-scale railway projects will be completed ahead of schedule in Kazakhstan: the Dostyk-Moiynty section and the Almaty bypass line. This was announced by Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev at a government meeting, emphasizing that these projects will significantly increase the network’s capacity and strengthen the country’s transit potential.

The world’s largest container port of Shanghai handled 4.62 million TEU in July, which is almost 5% lower than the level of the previous year. The decrease is explained by the high base effect: in July 2024, an absolute record of 4.85 million TEU was set here. At the same time, compared to June, the figure also decreased by almost 2%, which is unusual for the traditional peak season.

According to the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, in the first half of 2025, Germany’s foreign trade turnover with 29 countries in Central, Eastern, Southeastern Europe and Central Asia increased by 2% and reached 275 billion euros, which is 5.4 billion euros more than a year earlier. At the same time, German exports to these regions increased by 2.2% to 144 billion euros, while Germany’s total exports decreased by 0.1% to 786 billion euros.

On July 9, 2025, at the Dostyk station, JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) set a new record for the transfer of export cargo to China – 28 trains were sent in one day, which corresponds to 1,060 cars.