China is planning to build a transport hub in Uzbekistan. The Chinese logistics company Shenzhen Neptune Logistics announced plans to contribute approximately fifteen million dollars to that end. It is not the first foreign company to take this step, as German company Rhenus earlier announced similar plans.
The Chinese investments were announced at a meeting between representatives of the Uzbek Railways cargo subsidiary and Shenzhen Neptune Logistics. The total investment will amount to approximately 15 million dollars.
In the same announcement, the Chinese company specifically pointed to the efforts of Uzbek president Mirziyoyev to create favourable conditions for Chinese business. Subsequently, Uzbek Railways and its subsidiaries have been in close contact with potential Chinese business partners in recent months.
For example, earlier they signed memorandums of cooperation with Shandong Port Logistics Group and Jiayou International. According to the Uzbek parties, these agreements are aimed at improving multimodal logistics services and freight volumes. They specifically target transport along the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan route that leads westward into Europe.
European interest
At the same time, Uzbekistan has attracted interest from European companies. Europe has taken an interest in creating land-based transport routes to China that do not cross into Russian territory.
Last year, the German company Rhenus logistics agreed to invest twenty million dollars in the construction of a new multimodal transport hub in the Andijan region. It will also jointly manage the hub together with Uzbek Railways’ cargo subsidiary. The hub will be able to process up to 300,000 tonnes of freight annually.
Additionally, Uzbekistan also signed memorandums of understanding with Estonian SilSteve and Dutch Smartcontainer in 2023. The country also signed a transport agreement with Latvian LDZ Cargo.
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