Kazakhstan is planning to complete the Almaty-Khorgos Road construction project in 2016, reported press service of the JSC “National company Kazakhstan Temir Joli (KTJ) to KazTAG.

On Monday, President KTJ Askar Mamin and Akim of the Almaty region Amandyk Batalov have visited the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) “Khorgos-East Gate”, Altynkol station, and the Kazakhstan-China International Centre of Boundary Cooperation (ICBC).

“During the meeting, a draft master plan for the construction of the first stage of a new city based on the settlement of Nurkent, and the progress of the Almaty-Khorgos road project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2016, were also considered,” the information circulated on Monday states.

Also during the visit, the implementation of development projects and the current operational activities of the dry port of the SEZ were reviewed, which is under joint management of one of the world’s largest logistics companies – Dubai Port World. It was noted that, within the framework of the “dry port” project, a container site, railway access roads and storage facilities were built.

“The dry port has been operating for two months and has already processed more than 10,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit – KazTAG); packed-piece products are actively processed. The transportation of motor vehicles is organized from the countries of the European Union to the PRC and from the PRC to the Eurasian continent markets. “The staff was formed with the involvement of local personnel trained in the world’s leading TLCs,” the report says.”

It is reported that the agreements were signed with Hewlett Packard, DB Schenker, Toyota, Fesco, Bravis on the formation of container trains transit through the Altynkol station and processing in the SEZ “Khorgos-East Gate”.

In addition, five investment projects on export-import trade, as well as on contractual logistics, have been launched in ICBC Khorgos, and 10 more are under consideration. The total investment of the projects at the first stage amounted to $300 million.

The projects implemented under the Nurli Jol programme provide a strong impetus to the development of the transit-transport potential of Kazakhstan and will allow to fully contribute to the formation of the economic belt of the new Silk Road, according to the information.