Uzbekistan Key to Tajik Transport Problems
Thursday, 17 May, 2007
Uzbekistan Key to Tajik Transport Problems
Thursday, 17 May, 2007
Last week, a conference held by the United States Department of Commerce and attended by representatives from Afghanistan and all of the Central Asian states except Turkmenistan took place in Dushanbe to discuss transport issues in the region.
US deputy commerce secretary Paul Dyck said American companies were finding it hard to do business because of border restrictions, and the problem was a serious drag on economic growth and cooperation.
Tajikistan has borders with China, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and is reliant on road and rail communications. Uzbekistan’s central location makes it the major transit hub for the whole region.
According to Khudoyor Khudoyorov, Tajik deputy minister of transport and communications, his country has ratified six major regional and global transport agreements, including the customs convention on international freight transport and several accords involving the Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS.
For Tajikistan, the principal obstacle to the free movement of goods is the complicated customs procedures at border crossings, along with visa restrictions in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
“Unfortunately, the agreements signed by CIS countries are not always implemented properly. For example, there are many unresolved issues with Uzbekistan, even though Tajikistan is prepared to sign agreements eliminating barriers,” he said.
Olim Boboev, head of the Institute of Transport in Tajikistan, suggests many of the current problems could have been avoided if neighbouring Uzbekistan had ratified all the relevant agreements.
“It is not only our country, but also Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan that say there are many barriers on Uzbek border. And until Uzbekistan accedes to all the Eurasec [Eurasian Economic Agreement] documents, these problems won’t be solved,” he said.
Iqbola Faizulloev, an expert on road traffic at the ministry of transport, says Tajikistan “has virtually no problems” with Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan, and the main obstacles are created by Uzbekistan and to a limited extent Iran.
“There are many barriers on the border with Uzbekistan. Although we have already sent a draft agreement on road transport to the Uzbek side several times, we haven’t received a reply yet,” said Faizulloev.
Nargis Hamidova, a leading expert from the Association of International Road Freight Carriers, says visa restrictions imposed by Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are another hindrance to Tajik transport firms. The imposition of various fees and charges, and the levying of unofficial tolls, are especially common in Uzbekistan.
Hamidova believes the solution is firm inter-governmental agreements that explicitly define customs duties and other official fees. Like other analysts, she says current arrangements agreed by the CIS, Eurasec and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are not always put into practice.
Boboev suggests the rest of the region could learn from Kazakstan, where an information system which collates reports from drivers about breaches of procedure all over the country is proving a success.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
