The reactivation of the Silk Road
The International Conference in Polish Seym
- NELTI – New Eurasian Land Transport Initiative
Our company took part in a Warsaw conference which was organized together by the Association of International Road Transport Operators in Poland (ZMPD) and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) under the patronage of the president of the Polish Seym Bronisław Komorowski and the Minister of Infrastructure Cezary Grabarczyk. The conference which took place in the Column Room of the Polish Seym was attended by the representatives of the associations of road transport operators, the representatives of companies operating in the transport industry and also by the representatives of countries interested in reviving transport along transcontinental road networks and corridors. According to the participants of the conference the revitalization of the Silk Road is bound to happen sooner or later. It is almost certain that for the economical reasons the goods produced in the western part of China will mainly be carried by road to Europe.
The distance from the north- west parts of China to the harbours located in the south of the country is more or less the same as the road to Europe. This fact is of fundamental importance to road transport of goods which is expected to start in the nearest future – said the president of ZMPD Jan Buczek.
A real alternative
For IRU the revitalization of the Silk Road is one of the main priorities which has been gradually dealt with for many years. There have been a lot of conferences and meetings to popularize this idea and to discuss the chances of developing road transport on the Eurasian territory. As a result, it has been concluded that the idea discussed is a real alternative for sea transport in a situation of constantly increasing trade between Europe and Asia. Nowadays most of Chinese goods arrive in containers in the great harbours of western Europe. However, their flow capacity is limited and that is why it is essential to find a new way of transport for such a huge stream of loads. Air transport is fast but expensive and transport by road much cheaper. Moreover, its big advantage is the fact that goods can be carried from door to door.
What also should not be neglected is the chance for development which such a solution can create to the countries of transit as there are a lot of businesses started along the route like petrol stations, bars, car parks, motels, garages.
The NELTI project
The latest initiative of IRU is the NELTI project, which is aimed at monitoring road transport along the Silk Road. There are about 10 transport companies participating in the project. They are from Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kirghizstan and Turkey. In September 2008 they began transporting goods along three routes – the northern one, the central one and southern one.
The northern route is about 6500km long and runs from Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus to the EU. Transport of such goods as textiles, farm products, machines, food, pharmaceuticals takes around 12 days.
The central route is about 5100km long and runs from central China through Kirghizstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia to the EU. Among the goods transported along this route there are spare parts and cotton the delivery of which lasts up to 14 days and this results from the fact that the lorries have to cross by ferry the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
The southern route is the shortest one (about 4000 km) and runs from Kirghizstan through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran to Turkey. The lorries carry among others food, leather, raw materials, spare parts and plastic. The transport along this route takes about 12 days.
Cezary Bednarski