UNIPATH STAFF
With hopes of becoming a strategic trade and transportation hub between Asia with Europe, Turkmenistan opened a major port in the city of Turkmenbashi on the Caspian Sea in May 2018.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that the port will improve maritime access to the Black Sea region, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the Asia-Pacific.
He added that the port would help achieve “integration into the international system of economic relations, enhancing Turkmenistan’s role as an important center for transit communications.” Berdimuhamedov expressed his readiness to discuss use of the port with landlocked neighbors Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
The $1.5 billion port is almost 2 kilometers long and can accommodate 17 vessels simultaneously. Its estimated annual capacity is 300,000 passengers, 75,000 trucks and 400,000 shipping containers.
Economically dependent on exports of natural gas, Turkmenistan views the Caspian port as a means to boost tourism, industrial development and international investment.
Sources: Trend News Agency, Azer Tas, Turkmen Portal, Turkmenistan.ru