Kazakhstan's Deputy Minister of Transport, Maxat Kaliakparov, recently announced that the Central Asian country is undergoing a comprehensive modernization and reconstruction of its 33 highway border checkpoints, and a strategic action aimed at changing the regional logistics pattern is underway.

Kazakhstan plans to modernize 33 highway border checkpoints between 2026 and 2027, with the goal of increasing their comprehensive carrying capacity to 35 million tons by 2030.

Kazakhstan is actively promoting digital governance tools and will officially launch the unified digital road department system e-Joldar in 2026, marking the country's dual wheel drive strategy for upgrading its logistics channels.

Modernizing border checkpoints and speeding up logistics channels

The Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan recently announced plans to comprehensively modernize and rebuild 33 highway border checkpoints across the country between 2026 and 2027. This large-scale upgrade project has officially begun, with clear and ambitious goals: to increase the comprehensive carrying capacity of these checkpoints to an astonishing 35 million tons by 2030.

As a key node connecting Central Asia, Eurasia, and the Trans Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan is well aware of the decisive impact of border traffic efficiency on regional cargo flow rates. Deputy Minister of Transport Kariyakparov admitted, "Simply expanding facilities is no longer enough to meet the growing demand for cross-border trade."

2026 will be positioned as a key milestone year for the country's road industry, with the physical modernization of infrastructure advancing in sync with digital solutions.

This upgrade and renovation is not limited to the upgrading of hardware facilities, but also involves the systematic acceleration of the customs clearance process for goods and vehicles. Kazakhstan plans to fundamentally alleviate the long-standing bottleneck problem of customs clearance by optimizing operational processes, introducing automated equipment, and simplifying inspection procedures.

Behind this series of measures is Kazakhstan's strategic consideration of enhancing regional logistics competitiveness - in the context of increasingly fierce competition in regional logistics channels, by improving border passage efficiency and consolidating its position as a logistics hub in the Eurasian continent.

The e-Joldar system reshapes the transparent logistics ecosystem

If upgrading hardware facilities is Kazakhstan's hard power to improve logistics efficiency, then the unified digital road sector system e-Joldar, which will be officially launched in 2026, represents the country's soft power leap in the field of logistics digital governance.

The core function of the e-Joldar system is to integrate road reference data and build a comprehensive, accurate, and real-time national road information database. More importantly, the system also opens up a monitoring interface to the public, which has innovative significance on a global scale.

According to the plan, starting from 2026, all necessary documents, road passports, and regular inspection information will be centralized and publicly operated on this platform, breaking the previous situation of information silos. By introducing this system, Kazakhstan hopes to achieve multiple goals. On the one hand, the system will enhance the transparency of the road industry and reduce potential rent-seeking behavior and non-standard operations through data disclosure; On the other hand, the system will also provide data support for the efficient operation of border checkpoints, making logistics scheduling more scientific and reasonable.

The launch of the e-Joldar system marks a significant shift in Kazakhstan's logistics governance philosophy - from relying on manual management and paper documents to relying on data-driven intelligent decision-making. This transformation can not only improve logistics efficiency, but also provide a more reliable and predictable logistics environment for international shippers and investors.

Another strategic consideration of Kazakhstan's border checkpoint upgrade plan is to cope with the competitive pressure of logistics channels from neighboring countries. With the promotion of China's the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Eurasian Economic Union led by Russia, the logistics channels in Central Asia are diversified.

Kazakhstan's position as a regional transportation hub is not unshakable. Its neighboring country Uzbekistan has also been investing heavily in logistics infrastructure in recent years, attempting to compete for some transit trade. Faced with fierce competition, Kazakhstan has chosen the path of combining hard power with soft power. Keywords: the Belt and Road, international news, border checkpoints

By 2030, these border checkpoints will have an annual capacity of 35 million tons and become key nodes in the logistics network of the Eurasian continent. The comprehensive operation of the e-Joldar system may earn Kazakhstan a reputation as the most transparent logistics environment in Central Asia.Editor/Cheng Liting