Middle Corridor needs over $25 bln in infrastructure investment by 2040 – World BankMore than $25 billion in investment will be needed by 2040 to develop the infrastructure of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, according to a World Bank report.The report, titled “Integration: World-Class Trade Logistics Along the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor,” finds that strategic investments in the emerging Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, could more than triple trade volumes along the route, halve travel times, boost GDP by 3.3%, and create 2 million more jobs by 2040.The report further finds that if countries pair infrastructure investments with reforms that improve trade and transport efficiency, corridor volumes could quadruple and travel times could fall by two-thirds by 2040.The report estimates that more than $25 billion in physical infrastructure investments will be needed through 2040, particularly on rail networks, maritime ports, and feeder roads.In addition, an estimated $30 billion will be needed for ‘enabling’ investments, such as connecting road and rail links that tie the corridor into local economies, logistics hubs and inland terminals that help goods move faster, and logistics equipment, including rolling stock, such as locomotives and railcars, cargo-handling gear, and digital systems that allow the entire network to function smoothly.“The Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor [TITR] can become a powerful driver for faster growth, economic diversification, poverty reduction, and expanded private investment for the countries along the corridor,” said Antonella Bassani, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia.The report highlights four priority actions to improve how the corridor is governed and operated: adopt a single digital corridor system to replace fragmented paperwork with one entry point for transport, transit, and trade data; empower or create an integrated, market-oriented, joint-venture rail freight and trans-Caspian shipping operator to connect containerized rail and maritime services end to end; strengthen corridor-wide coordination to monitor performance, resolve bottlenecks, and support joint decisions; and modernize corridor operators by improving governance, financial sustainability, and regulation so that state-owned rail, port, and shipping companies can operate more commercially.The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, links China and Central Asia with the Caucasus, Turkey and Europe via Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Cargo traffic along the route reached about 4.7 million tonnes in 2025, with 5.5 million tonnes expected in 2026. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX