ArmInfo.Geographic location of Kazakhstan is not much better than Armenian. The difference is the territories surface and the abilities to adopt fast changing conditions. Such an opinion was stated to ArmInfo by Timur Urazaev, the Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary of Kazakhstan to Armenia.
"Kazakhstan has no exit to the open sea, except intercontinental Caspian sea. And al this happens under conditions when main trade paths are the marine routes. Armenia has similar geographic location. In this meaning, we should improve and develop the options we have, i.e. transportation routes that could be integrated in intercontinental corridors," he mentioned.
As an example, the diplomat mentioned the Great Silk Road, which has at least two options: first is American - "New Silk Road", has been frozen at the very beginning, due to the lack of funding. The second initiative is Chinese - Economic Belt of the Silk Road, which assumes the development of infrastructure, economic environment, defined projects throughout the Great Silk Road. And all these - through the territories of China, India, Central Asia, Russia and Caucasus and with the exit to Europe. Urazaev considers as natural the existence of geopolitical components there, whre good investment opportunities exist for infrastructure development. And there, where geopolitical processes raise obstacles for normal development of intercontinental corridors, everything goes wrong. As the example, Urazaev notes the Southern Caucasus with its problems, mentioning that Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan try to build up their Norht-South road to integrate to the West-East corridor.
In this meaning, Urazaev estimates the Great Silk Road not only as the exit to Global Ocean, because he thinks that even without this exit essential results could be reached in respect to Kazakhstan products shipments to large Asian markets of Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia etc. both by marine and land paths. He stated also that very soon the speed of cargo transportation from western borders of Kazakhstan to western coast of China will decrease down to 24 hours. "And there are no preconditions for Russian-Chinese interests collision around this project. Right opposite there is a will and intention to come together, to go one way. The only detail is that cargo could vary. One part of shipments will go through Russian territory, the other - through Kazakhstan. All these issues will be agreed, of course," the Ambassador summarized