European Union

ASTANA – The closing conference for the project "International Logistics Centres/Nodes Networks in Central Asia” will be held in Almaty on 9 December 2010. This conference marks the completion of this project which began in January 2009; highlights of the project will be presented by team members as well as representative of each beneficiary country. The primary objective of the project was to develop feasibility studies for logistics centres in each beneficiary country, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Representatives from relevant ministries and the TRACECA general secretary and national secretaries from each country have been invited as well as interested private sector organizations that could play a role in the financing and management of these logistics centres.

This project was primarily a response to the existing situation of high transport costs and a low level of transport efficiency in Central Asia. The establishment of modern logistics centres will contribute towards making transport routes in the region more efficient and competitive with alternative routes and transport means. The objectives of this EU-funded project included support of international trade and facilitate the movements of goods along the TRACECA corridor through improving logistics capabilities, interoperability and multimodal transport.

Major outputs of the project include:

• Analysis of TRACECA logistic network and the related operation of transport and logistics within the network;
• Identification, ranking and promotion of logistics centres’ projects; and
• feasibility studies of the selected projects. These feasibility studies include economic and financial evaluation, examination of environmental impacts, preparation of drawings and future renderings of each of these proposed logistics centres.

Major project activities were:

• Evaluation of traffic flows and an assessment of the effectiveness of the transport and logistics network in the beneficiary countries;
• Identification of needed improvements to the logistics network through the improvement/new construction of logistics centres, with emphasis on generating strong support from the private sector;
• Using multi-criteria analysis, development of a list of potentially viable candidate projects, undertaking economic, technical and financial feasibility studies.

Media are kindly invited to attend the press briefing on the project due to take place at 13.30 on 9 December 2010, at the Almaty conference hall, Intercontinental” Hotel, Almaty (181 Zheltoksan street).

Description of the project and major reports prepared are available on the website

For further information, please contact Ms. Ainash Tatvayeva, Project's assistant, at +7 (727) 291-89-70 or tatvayevaainash@gmail.com, or Ms.Karla Jamankulova, Press and Information Officer, the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan at +7 (7172) 97-11-48 or karlygash.jamankulova@ec.europa.eu.