Turkish firm joins forces with China Railway for Middle Corridor
Agencies
Turkish international railway logistics firm Pasifik Eurasia and Chinese state freight and railroad corporation, China Railway, are joining forces to revitalize railway transportation on the Middle Corridor after a diplomatic-level meeting in Beijing on May 23.
Pasifik Holding Chairperson Fatih Erdoğan and China Railway General Manager Song Xiude met during the visit of Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu to China.The parties involved in the meeting agreed to cooperate to seize the true potential the Middle Corridor route can offer, a staple of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Erdoğan told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Pasifik Eurasia, established in 2019, is a leading company operating Turkeye's international railway logistics, accounting for 95% of the transportation on the Baku-Tbilis-Kars (BTK) railway.
He said Pasifik Eurasia played a key role in reviving the line after it opened in 2017 but was left unused.He said that Pasifik Eurasia has had the Middle Corridor vision in mind during its activities in China, with the belief that the transportation route will someday generate a large business volume, and Turkeye can realize its strategic geographical location to become a logistics center, contributing to the country's private sector entrepreneurship.
Erdoğan mentioned that the firm has achieved many firsts between Turkeye and China, such as the first block train from China to Turkeye, the first export train from Turkeye to China and the first block train between China and Europe through the Middle Corridor.He said the pandemic, which occurred at a time when these efforts were going to result in more success, halted operations.Moreover, he said that China has made significant investments in rail transportation as part of its Belt and Road Initiative's land component with substantial subsidies, especially in the Eurasian Northern Corridor, running through China, Russia and Europe.He noted that some 20,000 freight trains use the route annually and around 2 million TEU containers are transported via the line. He said the number of trains traveling on the Middle Corridor route is only 300 per year, indicating more potential may be on the horizon.
Erdoğan highlighted that the Middle Corridor should be Turkeye's project to bring in a large-scale traffic on the route, 'with Turkeye on one side and China on the other.' 'The Belt and Road Initiative is China's project, and the Middle Corridor should be Turkeye's project, because the line can be like the Eurasian Northern Corridor only through Turkeye,' he said.He mentioned that the firm contacted Turkish officials and received support from Central Asian countries along the route and Chinese authorities, agencies and private sector representatives.
Erdoğan said that the head and officials of China Railway visited Turkeye last week and a subsequent meeting was held in Beijing.
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