The Chairman of Kazakhstan State Railways, Talhat Adbegonov, gave a clear signal at the 40th meeting of the Railway Cooperation Organization that Kazakhstan is planning to directly acquire terminal assets in ports in Europe and the Caucasus region. This is not a simple business investment, but rather to fill the last piece of the puzzle in the international logistics map. As a transportation hub located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, Kazakhstan is not only satisfied with serving as a transit channel, but also wants to have the final say in the logistics chain.

Practical data of hub nodes

This confidence comes from the solid infrastructure interconnection between Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan in the past decade. Since 2014, the cooperation between the two parties has been deeply integrated into the construction of specific nodes. The most typical case is undoubtedly the Lianyungang logistics base, which has become the first stop for Southeast Asian goods entering Central Asia.

At the border between China and Kazakhstan, Khorgos Dongmengan Port is not only the largest logistics hub, but also the key bottleneck for the cargo volume to break through the million ton level. Looking west, the position of Xi'an International Port Area is even more crucial - currently, about 40% of China Europe freight trains bound for Europe are assembled here. Thanks to the support of these hardcore facilities, the sea rail intermodal transportation time from Xi'an to Poti Port in Georgia has been compressed to 15 to 18 days. But the Kazakh side is obviously not satisfied with this. Aldbergnov bluntly stated that the next goal is to further cut this cycle to 10 to 12 days, which is almost competing with sea freight for time.

A miracle of billions of times growth

This efficiency improvement is not just empty talk, but supported by successful data from the Eurasian Railway Union project. As a joint model with member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, this project has created the shortest path connecting Asia and Europe. Data shows that over the past 12 years, the transportation volume of this channel has surged by more than 100 times compared to the initial stage of the project. Nowadays, the transportation time of this channel has been steadily controlled within the range of 12 to 14 days, making it the gold standard in the international logistics market due to its timeliness. This explosive growth proves that regional collaboration is the key to tapping into logistics potential.

Take the last kilometer of the terminal

It is based on the above successful experience that Kazakhstan has set its sights on further overseas terminals. Aldbergnov revealed that the acquisition of European and Caucasian port capacity is actively underway. Keywords: international logistics, interconnectivity

The profound meaning of this move is that Kazakhstan not only needs to open up the east-west artery, but also needs to control the port assets to connect the north-south transportation channels, ultimately forming an integrated transportation network system of sea land intermodal transportation and seamless connection. When the last mile of land sea intermodal transportation is completely opened up, Kazakhstan's position as the heart of Asia Europe logistics will be truly established.Editor/Cheng Liting