Railway corridor connecting Vietnam to Europe starts operation
Staff Writer |
The Embassy of Kazakhstan in Vietnam, jointly with Kazakhstan’s Temir Zholy National Company (KTZ), have launched the first railway corridor along the Vietnam – China – Kazakhstan – Europe route, Kazakhstan’s Kazinform news agency reported, citing the press service of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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From Hanoi, Vietnam, to the Vietnamese border terminal of Dong Dang, and then through China and Kazakhstan to Duisburg, Germany.
The shipment of LG and Samsung goods by rail from Hanoi to Duisburg took 22 days, including two days from Vietnam to China.
In the future, the total shipment time from Vietnam to Europe is planned to be cut to 19 days.
According to Vietnam Railways, the transported volumes will significantly increase this year.
In 2016, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Vietnam and KTZ initiated the work to establish and launch the transport and logistics route between Kazakhstan and Vietnam in transit through China.
In February 2017, KTZ and Vietnam Railways in Hanoi signed a memorandum of cooperation which facilitated the further intensification of the transport and logistics cooperation between the two countries.
In general, goods could be transported from Kazakhstan to Vietnam by rail to the Kazakh logistic terminal rented at Lianyungang port of China, and from there by boat to Vietnam.
The other shipment route is carried out by railway all the way from Vietnam, through China to Kazakhstan.
Vietnam became the first country to sign the Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries.
The Kazakhstan-China-Vietnam transit route gives Kazakhstan and other EAEU countries the opportunity to supply agricultural products (including meat and dairy products, and other perishable goods that require fast transportation) to Vietnam.
In turn, using the capabilities of this corridor, Vietnam could export seafood and tropical fruits to Kazakhstan, according to Kazinform.
Vietnam is completing the work on a similar agreement with the European Union.
This will make it possible to diversify the transport corridor along the Vietnam-China-Kazakhstan-Europe route, reduce the time for goods delivery from Vietnam and ASEAN countries to Europe.
In general, it will be a good alternative to maritime transport.
At the end of 2018, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Vietnam reached US$467.2 million.
It is expected that the launch of the Vietnam-China-Kazakhstan-Europe railway corridor will considerably boost trade between the two countries. ■