TAJIKISTAN: South Korea’s International Co-operation Agency is planning to assist Tajikistan’s Ministry of Transport with a US$4m feasibility study for a railway to the border with Afghanistan.
The proposed line would run 51 km from Balkh (formerly Kolkhozabad) in the Jaloliddin Balkhi district to Panji Poyon (Nizhny Panj) and is expected to require 28 bridges and 160 culverts.
Tajik Minister of Transport Azim Ibrohim said the project would improve access to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
‘If the project is successfully implemented, Tajikistan would become an attractive railway transit country and the transport of goods and products with neighbouring countries will increase, which will be very useful both for Tajikistan and for other countries in the region’, the minister said.
‘This project is South Korea’s first railway construction project in Central Asia’, the country’s ambassador said on July 30, expressing hope that it could be fully implemented within three years.
