A meeting of the General Assembly of the Founders of the International Association of the Eurasian Transport Route was held in Baku, chaired by Azerbaijan. The meeting was attended by the heads of the railway administrations of Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Rovshan Rustamov, head of Azerbaijan Railways, announced that the legal registration of the association, headquartered in Baku, had been fully completed, and its establishment opens new opportunities for the development of the southern branch of the Middle Corridor and strengthens Azerbaijan’s role as a key transit bridge between Central Asia and Europe.
Participants emphasized that, amid growing freight traffic between China and Europe, route diversification is becoming critical. Multimodal transportation has already commenced within the Eurasian Transport Route from Kashgar through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan, and the construction of the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway will further enhance the corridor’s importance. Integration with the Trans-Afghan Corridor, which will open new routes for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was also discussed.
The Assembly approved the association’s corporate structure, action plan, and the creation of working groups on dispatching, infrastructure development, commerce, digitalization, marketing, communications, and legal issues. It was decided to develop a marketing strategy for 2026, diagnose route bottlenecks, implement IT solutions for transportation management, and expand partnerships in Eurasia. The association, established in September 2024, is intended to become a tool for attracting transit cargo, developing a unified logistics technology, and developing an effective tariff policy. Azerbaijan’s role in the association’s leadership strengthens ADY’s position as a key operator on the southern branch of the Middle Corridor.