LONDON: Kazakhstan wants to establish itself as a major trading hub between China and Europe and get a share of a $600 billion market, but it will have to end tough, often time-wasting, regulations that hurt its reputation as a cross-border trading partner.
The landlocked Central Asian country has its eye on one day claiming a 10th of China-Europe traffic from maritime shippers, using its strategic location and help from major cargo handler Dubai Ports World.
Its geographical position – it has a 1,780 km (1,112 mile) border with China – suggests it is well-placed to offer an alternative land route to maritime shipping for cargo from China, Japan and south-east Asia.
One train service, linking the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing with Germany’s Duisburg, already runs regularly, reducing delivery time by up to two-thirds compared with maritime shipping.
But using the railway route costs about twice as much as the sea route, making it practical only for time-critical shipments or high value-added goods. The Chongqing-Duisburg train, for example, has delivered Acer and Asus computers to Europe and Mercedes and BMW cars to China.
Kazakh officials often refer to the development project overland through Central Asia as the new Silk Route; the original one, used in antiquity and the Middle Ages, was also based on Chinese exports.
