Logistics official: China/Kazakhstan trade to more than double by 2009

Logistics official: China/Kazakhstan trade to more than double by 2009 Freight transport volume between China and Kazakhstan is forecast to grow to 25 million tons in 2009 from 12 million tons in 2006 following a $1 billion investment in a new railway line and freight station at Khorgos, funded by the Kazakhstan government, according to Erlan Dikhanbayev, managing director of Soyuztranslink, a logistics services provider in Central Asia.
   'The value of this trade turnover between China and Kazakhstan is forecast to grow to $30 billion by 2010 and demand for efficient freight forwarding services will increase exponentially,' Dikhanbayev said at a press conference in Hong Kong today. 'There is significant investment in infrastructure connecting China to Central Asia and the CIS countries. Kazakhstan provides the shortest and most efficient gateway rail and road connections linking Asia to Europe. Central Asia and Russia are rich in natural resources such as oil, gas and minerals, and has modern heavy industries such as steel plants. As the economies grow in the region demand for imported goods and materials are increasing as well. Some 35 percent of all China freight transits through Kazakhstan en route to Russia, and it is critical that freight is managed and tracked from the border to its destination.'
   The Kazakhstan government is also planning to modernize the Russian border station Ozinki in order to meet the growing demand for rail services through to Western Russia and Ukraine, Dikhanbayev added.