New Afghan trade corridor to complement China's BRI

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday launched a new international trade route aimed at establishing direct connectivity to Central Asian countries and Europe, which will also complement China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region, an Afghan government official told CGTN Digital.

"It is a historic day for Afghanistan as we reopen the Lapis Lazuli trade corridor, which was part of the ancient Silk Route and will once again connect the country to Central Asia, Europe and even China through its BRI project, which is the modern Silk Route," Shokrullah Amiri, an official from Afghan President's Administrative Office told CGTN Digital in an exclusive interview.

The name Lapis Lazuli is derived from the historic route through which Afghanistan's lapis lazuli and other semiprecious stones were exported to the Caucasus, Russia, the Balkans, Europe, and North Africa over 2,000 years ago, the official explained.

The new corridor includes roads, railway and maritime routes that run from Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia before crossing the Black Sea to Turkey and eventually Europe.

"The route begins in Aqina and Turghundi ports in the Afghan provinces of Faryab and Herat, reaches Turkmenbashi port in Turkmenistan, crosses the Caspian Sea and heads to Baku in Azerbaijan and the Georgian capital Tbilisi, reaches Poti and Batumi ports on the Black Sea, and finally crosses via Turkey to Europe," Amiri elaborated, adding that it took the member countries around three years to discuss and finalize the agreement.

Vital connectivity

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani (center) cuts the inaugural ribbon as he declares open the Lapis Lazuli trade and transit corridor at a ceremony in the country's western province of Herat, December 13, 2018. /Photo via Office of Chief of Staff for the President, Afghanistan

Ghani declared the ambitious corridor open at a ceremony in the western province of Herat, setting off the first trucks laden with more than 175 tons of cotton, dried fruit, and sesame to the partnering countries.

"For over 17 years Afghanistan was in isolation, today Afghanistan is connected with its neighbors and beyond," the president said asserting that connectivity remains a primary goal for his landlocked country and its people.

Thanking international partners for their efforts in regional connectivity and turning the Lapis Lazuli corridor into a reality, Ghani emphasized that the project highlights the trust and confidence of Afghanistan's northern neighbors.

Afghan products including grapes, marbles, and saffron as well as pomegranates of Kandahar, almonds of Samagan, and all agricultural products of the country will soon be transported to partnering countries and Europe via this corridor, he stated.

The corridor will function under the framework of Transport International Routier (TIR) carnet, Amiri informed. The TIR carnet is largely a universal transit system and eases the customs procedures.

Afghanistan became the member of TIR in 1975, however, due to the ongoing instability it was in a dormant stage and renewed its membership in 2013. The implementation of the TIR system in the Lapis Lazuli corridor will augment the trade and transit in Afghanistan and other regional countries.

Multiple corridors

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (left) sets off the first trucks with dried fruit, herbs and textiles bound for Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey at the inauguration ceremony of the Lapis Lazuli corridor in Afghanistan's western province of Herat, December 13, 2018. /Photo via Office of Chief of Staff for the President, Afghanistan

Related story: Uzbek-Afghan railway to put 'China-India Plus' plan on track

Amiri stated that as a landlocked country, Afghanistan has mainly relied on Pakistan for its international trade in the light of international conventions and bilateral agreements like the Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) and Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA).

"However, these legal frameworks were not adequate as Afghanistan seeks to build up an economy wrecked by decades of war and reduce reliance on a single country. In this context, the Lapis Lazuli corridor would diversify Afghanistan's transit routes and has been interpreted as the shortest, cheapest, and most reliable route for Afghanistan's trade with Europe," he said.

The Lapis Lazuli route agreement was finalized after three years of talks and was signed during the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA VII) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in November 2017.

According to Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) statistics, Afghanistan's annual import volume from Europe and Turkey through Iran is 900 million U.S. dollars but the country's export to European nations totals 6 million U.S. dollars a year.

The corridor is the latest in a series of energy and transport projects aimed at opening Afghanistan up as a hub at the heart of the region. "Beyond transit trade, the Lapis Lazuli corridor is a strategic step toward the integration of Afghanistan in the region and securing its economic future by designating it as a hub to connect the markets of South Asia, Central Asia, and Middle East," Amiri said.

National flags of the member countries of the Lapis Lazuli corridor project - Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan - flutter at a government building in Herat, Afghanistan, December 13, 2018. /Photo via Office of Chief of Staff for the President, Afghanistan

President Ghani, a former World Bank official, has encouraged several such projects in recent times including the 10-billion-U.S.-dollar TAPI - Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India - natural gas pipeline launched this year, as he looks to build a robust Afghan economy.

Last month, Ghani inaugurated the China-Afghanistan air corridor with an aircraft carrying 20 tons of pine nuts worth about 500,000 U.S. dollars from Kabul to Shanghai, timed to coincide with the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) held in the city. It has a similar cargo link with India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

Afghanistan is also expanding a key rail link to Uzbekistan, which could likely see both Beijing and New Delhi collaborate under "China-India Plus" model of cooperation.

"Overall it is commonly believed in Afghanistan that the country would benefit from more market access, international supply chains, lesser tariffs, significant FDI (foreign direct investment) for vast natural resources, transport of energy thru pipelines from surplus energy of Central Asian countries to China and emerging markets in South Asia such as India and Pakistan and beyond," Amiri concluded.

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