DP World vice chairman HE Jamal Majid bin Thaniah has been in Kazakstan meeting with Prime Minister Karim Masimov overviewing the infrastructure developments it is involved in at the Port of Aktau and an inland container depot (ICD) at Khorgos in the east of the Central Asian country.
Construction of Khorgos Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Inland Container Depot (ICD) was inaugurated last month, both of which are to be managed by DP World under an agreement signed in 2013 with Kazakhstan National Railway Company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ). DP World also has similar contract for the Port of Aktau in the Caspian Sea.
“Kazakhstan is perhaps the world’s original cross border trade enabler as home to the longest segment of the ancient Silk Way. With the shift of manufacturing to central and western Chinese cities there is a new potential to develop a New Silk Way that links China and the West mainly by land,” said DP World’s vice chairman.
Transit times by rail from China to Europe are 15 days compared to 45 days via ocean shipping according to KTZ Express, a subsidiary of KTZ.
KTZ Express has been pushing rail cargo links with China and just last month opened up an office in Hong Kong to build-up import and export trade between Central Asia, China, Asia and Europe.
In Kazakhstan $3bn is being invested in rail infrastructure this year. In China KTZ Express is investing $100m in an intermodal freight and logistics centre at the port of Lianyungang on China’s eastern seaboard. The 500,000 teu capacity a year facility aims to act as hub for cargo shipped into Lianyungang by sea Japan, Korea and South East Asia and then moved by rail to Kazakhstan.
Rail services will link into Khorgos as a distribution hub. “Khorgos is a distribution hub designed for Chinese freight forwarders to access Central Asian markets by road and rail with minimal Customs regulations and tariffs” said Henrik Christensen, president of KTZ Express Hong Kong.
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