Uzbekistan intends to open its own terminal in Baku port. Abdusamat Mominov, Deputy Minister of Transport told the Azerbaijani news publication Trend.
"This terminal will help both to transport sugar to Uzbekistan and for our exports. We want to use public-private partnership program for this. Uzbek businesses want to invest in the development of Alat port infrastructure for future use," he said.
According to him, at the moment, the parties are completing appropriate activities to set up warehouse infrastructure in the Baku port area to store goods coming from Uzbekistan.
Mominov also noted that this year, according to the instruction of president Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan will increase the volume of goods delivery through the ports of Azerbaijan and Georgia to 1.5 million tons.
"Based on the geopolitical situation in the world, it is necessary to look for alternative ways of delivery, now Uzbekistan is redirecting cargo to Azerbaijan, thus boosting the potential of the Middle Corridor [Trans-Caspian International Transport Route]. Today, we are very actively using the transport potential of Azerbaijan, the possibilities of the international sea trade port of Baku, in particular, for the import of sugar. This year, we plan to double the volume of sugar transportation to 300,000 tons," he explained.
He noted that in 2022, transportation of sugar raw materials via Azerbaijan topped 130,000 tons.
In general, in 2022, the Uzbekistan trade volume via Alat port increased by 65% surpassing 900 thousand tons.
