{"id":46556,"date":"2025-05-15T10:08:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T10:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=46556"},"modified":"2025-05-15T10:08:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T10:08:58","slug":"pakistan-for-establishment-of-shortest-possible-trade-routes-with-central-asia-turkmenistan-viable-transit-uzbekistan-received-largest-number-of-trucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-for-establishment-of-shortest-possible-trade-routes-with-central-asia-turkmenistan-viable-transit-uzbekistan-received-largest-number-of-trucks\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan for establishment of shortest possible trade routes with Central Asia ! Turkmenistan Viable Transit ! Uzbekistan Received Largest Number of Trucks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-46559\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Central-South-Asia.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"362\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Central-South-Asia.jpg 500w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Central-South-Asia-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Central-South-Asia-324x235.jpg 324w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/>Central Asia South Asia Monitoring Desk Islamabad<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ISLAMABAD : 15 May 2025 &#8211; Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday urged the establishment of the shortest possible trade linkages by road, rail and sea with the Central Asian States (CASs), directing the authorities concerned to prioritize projects for the first phase of multi-modal connectivity through new trade corridors.<\/p>\n<p>He said this while chairing the second consultative meeting of the Working Group on Multimodal Connectivity, which was attended by key government stakeholders, including the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, Federal Board of<br \/>\nRevenue (FBR), Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Maritime Affairs, and the Aviation Division, a news release said.<\/p>\n<p>During the meeting, the working group presented a comprehensive review of currently operational trade corridors and proposed new routes to strengthen regional connectivity.<\/p>\n<p>In follow-up to the previous meeting, the Ministry of Communications had been tasked with reviewing existing transport infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, and policy instruments along identified trade corridors.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Railways, and the Aviation Division were assigned to evaluate relevant regional and international agreements that could facilitate economic integration through new routes.<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting Turkmenistan as a comparatively shorter and viable transit option, Ahsan Iqbal directed that a thorough assessment of this route&#8217;s feasibility be undertaken.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"kByqlL46Rm\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/the-first-meeting-of-termez-dialogue-on-connectivity-between-central-and-south-asia-to-be-held-in-termez-on-may-19-21\/\">The First Meeting of Termez Dialogue on Connectivity between Central and South Asia to be held in Termez on May 19-21<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;The First Meeting of Termez Dialogue on Connectivity between Central and South Asia to be held in Termez on May 19-21&#8221; &#8212; Pakistan In the World\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/the-first-meeting-of-termez-dialogue-on-connectivity-between-central-and-south-asia-to-be-held-in-termez-on-may-19-21\/embed\/#?secret=D6b51uayhi#?secret=kByqlL46Rm\" data-secret=\"kByqlL46Rm\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Reflecting on his recent visit to Turkmenistan for the 1st ECO Ministerial Forum on Sustainable Development, the minister noted the country&#8217;s keen interest in fostering regional connectivity.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On a query regarding Turkmenistan\u2019s potential use of Gwadar Port, the minister was apprised by Ministry of Maritime Affairs that the port is operational, and 100 acres of land have been allocated for an off-dock terminal.<\/p>\n<p>The PC-1 for its development is under preparation for proposed inclusion in PSDP 2025\u201326.<\/p>\n<p>Recalling the prospect of <strong>Gwadar\u2013Oman sea connectivity<\/strong> as discussed in previous meeting, the Minister advised the concerned Ministry to share progress on this initiative in the next meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Ahsan Iqbal further emphasized the need for effective phasing in the planning of the multimodal connectivity network to identify infrastructural and policy challenges that may arise in the development of new trade corridors.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Communications presented a three years\u2019 summary of the movement of NLC trucks operating through three key trade corridors:<strong> the Trans-Afghan Corridor, the North-South Corridor, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The ministry officials briefed the minister that in 2023, <strong>Pakistan transported the highest number of trucks to Uzbekistan<\/strong>, as compared to other Central Asian countries. In 2024, Afghanistan took the lead as the primary recipient of Pakistani trucked exports.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"0FdnoPFs16\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-february-2025\/\">Pakistan in the World \u2013 February 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Pakistan in the World \u2013 February 2025&#8221; &#8212; Pakistan In the World\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-february-2025\/embed\/#?secret=ybghH0a4ss#?secret=0FdnoPFs16\" data-secret=\"0FdnoPFs16\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>They apprised the minister that current figures for 2025 indicate that the top three countries to have received Pakistani trucked exports so far had been China, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese trends reflect Pakistan\u2019s growing engagement with neighboring markets and underscore the importance of developing efficient multimodal trade corridors to enhance regional connectivity and economic integration,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cPriority projects in roads, railways and maritime sector must be shortlisted in first phase of multi-modal network, which can be done by effectively analyzing missing links across the region. This will help Pakistan establish trade connectivity with the energy-rich Central Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He instructed Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Communication and Ministry of Maritime affairs to carry out extensive consultative reviews of key infrastructure projects to identify the projects that need to be recommended for phase one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExecution of the multimodal connectivity network will help Pakistan diversify its trade mix while providing <strong>Central Asian nations with access to South Asian markets via Gwadar,<\/strong> Karachi, and new routes. This mutually beneficial arrangement has immense potential to strengthen economic interdependence and regional connectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"juRXxVQgBF\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-july-aug-2023\/\">Pakistan in the World &#8211; July\/Aug 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Pakistan in the World &#8211; July\/Aug 2023&#8221; &#8212; Pakistan In the World\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-july-aug-2023\/embed\/#?secret=ujhg7Fouzr#?secret=juRXxVQgBF\" data-secret=\"juRXxVQgBF\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Reflecting on the potential of trading with Central Asian region, the minister emphasized that <strong>Central Asia\u2019s collective GDP of over $207 billion and a population of 66 million<\/strong> represent a substantial market for Pakistani exports, including textiles, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural products.<\/p>\n<p>Strengthening trade and investment linkages with these countries can lay the foundation for a regional economic bloc that benefits all stakeholders, he stressed.<\/p>\n<p>Recommendations made by respective departments involved in the joint working group included execution of a cross-institutional study to assess the potential benefits and challenges of establishing international corridors.<\/p>\n<p>The group also proposed an in-depth economic impact study to evaluate the benefits of trade routes from Pakistan to Russia via Central Asia.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting concluded with Planning Minister\u2019s direction to all line ministries to finalize a comprehensive report on the proposed multimodal connectivity framework with phase one priority projects for submission to the prime minister.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"J3E0TsP99A\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-may-2025\/\">Pakistan in the World \u2013 May 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Pakistan in the World \u2013 May 2025&#8221; &#8212; Pakistan In the World\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-may-2025\/embed\/#?secret=DMDnBPi6Rd#?secret=J3E0TsP99A\" data-secret=\"J3E0TsP99A\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Central Asia South Asia Monitoring Desk Islamabad ISLAMABAD : 15 May 2025 &#8211; Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday urged the establishment of the shortest possible trade linkages by road, rail and sea with the Central Asian States (CASs), directing the authorities concerned to prioritize projects for the first [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[491,490,820,3948,384,1396,48,3701,532,1202,159,125],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46556"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46556"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46561,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46556\/revisions\/46561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}