Photo: AFP/Richard Maschmeyer
07/12/2024 16:31
In recent years, Uzbekistan has undergone profound, large-scale economic and social reforms aimed at accelerating economic growth, constructing major infrastructure projects, and creating a favorable legal environment for direct foreign investments.
On the territory of ancient Mawarannahr, now Uzbekistan, there was mutual enrichment of civilizations and cultures that developed in China, India, Iran, Byzantium, and Egypt. Thanks to this, our country, which has a history of statehood spanning more than three millennia, has long been one of the highly developed centers of global trade-economy, science, culture, and art.
Today, people from many countries strive to explore the roots of their history, understand the origins of spirituality, and their national affiliation with global culture. Therefore, it is no coincidence that in recent years there has been an increased scientific and public interest in the Great Silk Road as a key means of cultural, trade, and tourism communication.
From the first years of independence, Uzbekistan has focused on creating new transport communications linking the Republic with other states, regions, and continents. As a result of the reforms carried out in recent years, according to the World Bank's "Logistics Performance Index" for 2023, Uzbekistan ranked 88th out of 139 countries, improving by 11 points.
It is worth noting that over the last five years, the volume of international transport in Uzbekistan has been consistently growing, with an average annual increase of 10 percent. In 2023, the growth of transit transport reached 12 percent. The share of railway transport in carrying out international freight transportation accounts for 76%, and road transport 24%.
Radical reforms are being implemented in all areas of transport. Over the years of our country's independence, a number of major infrastructure projects have been realized in the field of railway transport, resulting in the creation of a unified network of national railways.
Work continues on transforming railway transport and creating broad opportunities for attracting private investors to the sector. Joint projects for the construction of toll and high-speed railways are being developed.
In collaboration with potential foreign investors, projects for the development of international airports such as "Tashkent," "Bukhara," and "Urgench," as well as the construction of new airports, are being prepared.
Additionally, in the subsequent years, the number of freight vehicles has quadrupled as a result of the state's stimulation of new vehicle purchases.
In air transport, substantial reforms have also been carried out to create a competitive environment and develop airports.
With the goal of enhancing the country's tourism potential, fully utilizing airport capabilities, and developing a competitive environment in the air transport market, an "open sky" regime has been implemented at Samarkand International Airport since October 1, 2022.
It is particularly noteworthy that, on the personal initiative of the respected President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Miromonovich, extensive work is being conducted to develop transportation infrastructure, including enhancing the transit potential of the territory.
One such project is the construction of the "China – Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan" railway, which is rightly considered a project to restore the Great Silk Road. This project will serve as an impetus to strengthen cultural-civilizational ties between Eurasia, eastern and western regions, develop trade routes, rejuvenate the economies of Central Asia, and most importantly, become the shortest route from China to the countries of Europe and the Middle East. As a result, the distance will be reduced by 900 kilometers, and the delivery time of goods by 7-8 days.
Another important project of transregional cooperation is the construction of the “Uzbekistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan” railway. This project will connect the South Asian railway system with the Central Asian and Eurasian railways. This direction forms a new paradigm of trade-economic cooperation on a continental scale. The cost of delivery from Pakistan to Uzbekistan, as a result of the project implementation, according to preliminary calculations, will be reduced by three times, and the delivery time of goods will be 3-5 days.
It is important to note that this project should be considered not only from an economic perspective but also as part of the efforts to achieve peace and economic progress in Afghanistan. These projects will fundamentally change the geo-economic situation in the region, transforming Central Asia into a global transit hub, connecting the north and south, east and west.
Today, we are witnessing how the global and regional situation is becoming increasingly complex. The rapid change in the international situation and the growing geopolitical tension today require us to unite efforts to diversify transport routes, prevent disruptions in the supply chain of goods, and jointly develop new transport routes.
Uzbekistan is becoming a focal point for investors and strategists, creating broad opportunities for the development of trade-economic relations.
It is no coincidence that the transportation sector is called the global "circulatory system," through which people and goods move both within countries and around the world. The year 2023 was filled with significant events in the transportation sector in Uzbekistan and the rest of the world.
Uzbekistan's transport workers strive to ensure rhythmic transportation of goods and passengers, as well as to integrate as efficiently as possible into international transport corridors.
In 2023, the volume of transported goods amounted to 1 billion 383 million tons (102 percent), and 6 billion 452 million passengers (103.3 percent) were delivered to their destinations by all types of transport.
International freight transport reached a volume of 61.4 million tons, i.e., (export, import, and transit) increased by 14.5% compared to the corresponding period last year.
Uzbekistan's foreign trade goods (export and import 47.6 million tons) are conducted mainly with neighboring countries.
It should be noted that there is a trend towards increasing entrepreneurship in the field of automotive transport services: in 2023, 2,218 business entities and 125,323 individuals were engaged, operating 176,818 vehicles.
A total of 7,779 buses (18.2 percent), 3,579 minibuses (8.4 percent), and 128,526 passenger cars were used for passenger delivery.
For passenger transportation to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia, 37 regular bus routes were organized, carrying over 374,000 people over the year.
Efforts continued to ensure the transparency and openness of tenders for government contracts. Last year, more than 200 tenders were held, and orders for passenger transportation on 1,992 routes were placed on electronic trading platforms. Of these, 565 were urban, 3,210 suburban, 362 intercity within regions, and 141 inter-regional.
According to the relevant presidential decrees and programs, in 2023, 1,203 new buses were introduced on automotive transport routes in the republic (Tashkent - 1,013, Kashkadarya region - 30, Bukhara - 24, Syrdarya - 22, Navoiy - 19, Fergana Valley regions - 4, Jizzakh - 2, and Surkhandarya - 1). Additionally, 782 minibuses were purchased.
Issues of informational support for passengers have been addressed. The corporate information system info.uztrans.uz was put into operation. A program containing information with maps of the locations of bus stations and terminals across the republic has been developed.
Now passengers can purchase tickets for intercity and inter-regional flights on the electronic platform avtoticket.uz. Passengers from the Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya, Bukhara, and Khorezm regions can buy tickets for national and international flights, and this platform is integrated with Paynet.
According to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On additional measures to improve the licensing system for international road transportation of goods and passengers" dated July 7, 2023, a mechanism for the return of permits for road transportation within 90 days has been implemented in the Permit Information System.
In the air transport sector, in addition to the existing airlines such as Uzbekistan Airways, Qanot Sharq, Panorama Airways, and Humo Air, new ones - "Centrum Air," "Silk Avia," "Asia Union Airlines," and "Tashkent Air" have been organized and started offering services to the public.
Overall, the number of airlines holding Civil Aviation resident certificates in the republican market has reached 14, of which 11 are private. Specifically, "Qanot Sharq" and "Panorama Airways" handle passenger air transport, "Sayohat Air Group" operates tourist and resident hot air balloon flights over the city, and "Tashkent Air" specializes in customized charter flights.
Additionally, "My Freighter/Centrum airlines" have been involved in cargo and passenger transport, "Asia Union Airlines" in business aviation, "Humo Air" in passenger transport, "Air Tashkent" in extreme flights for athletes and tourists, "Shark Avia" provides aerial photography and geodesy services, "Agro-Parvoz" offers agricultural aviation services, and "Uz Aero Tech Group" in cargo transport.
As of January 1, 2023, the national aviation fleet consisted of 47 aircraft, but with 28 acquisitions over the past year, the number has now reached 75.
In 2023, 10,409,000 passengers were served through 11 international airports and other landing sites. By the end of 2023, Uzbekistani resident airlines had completed 54,420 flights.
It is also worth noting that for passengers passing through Tashkent International Airport, the "Fast Track" service was introduced, allowing passengers to bypass the queue for flight registration, customs, passport control, and pre-flight security checks.
In 2023, a number of measures were implemented to develop the city's public transport system and improve passenger comfort:
In the second phase of the project to build a ground-level ring line of the Tashkent metro, with a length of 7.74 km on the "Kuylyuk – Kuruvchilar" section, construction and installation work was completed at 5 stations and opened to passengers, bringing the total metro length to 73.05 km.
At a meeting with the President on November 30, 2020, measures to develop public transport in the regions were discussed. The President emphasized the need to expand the scale and improve the quality of transport services between villages, district centers, and the regional center.
It should be noted that the public transport sector globally is considered planned-deficit. Therefore, in the second phase, routes were graded into profitable, low-profit, and unprofitable categories.
By the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers "On further improvement of public transport operations in the regions" dated October 8, 2021, target parameters were established for opening new routes from villages to district centers and from district centers to regional centers, and subsidies were allocated for carriers on unprofitable routes. Thus, in 2021, 51.1 million sums were allocated, in 2022, 8.5 billion, and in 2023, 12.1 billion.
As a result, a new network of routes was developed, and thanks to subsidies, public transport served 1,081 gatherings of citizens in mahallas.
Contracts between the Ministry of Transport and five universities (Transport University, Andijan Machine Building Institute, Namangan Institute of Economics and Construction, Jizzakh and Fergana Polytechnic Institutes) were made for the development of transport master plans and targeted, scientifically justified strategies for the development of public transport.
Transport master plans for Tashkent and Samarkand were developed. As a result, a network of 167 routes was formed in Tashkent, including 101 connecting, 14 ring, 11 main, and 41 feeder routes. From August 1, 2023, a gross contract system was implemented on these routes.
This allowed for a doubling in the reduction of bus intervals, now they are 8-10 minutes, the daily passenger flow increased by one and a half times and reached one million people, the travel time to the center was reduced from 45 to 30 minutes, the average length of the routes decreased from 18 to 12 km, and the share of electronic payments rose to 60 percent.
In collaboration with the Chinese company "Magnetic North," a program for the implementation of a centralized dispatch service was compiled and implemented in Tashkent. This program allows for the online tracking of bus movements on routes, the management of bus schedules, the refinement of passenger flow, analysis by route and bus companies, and communication with drivers via the VoIP system.
At the stage of enhancing the digital appeal of public transport, a payment system (ATTO) for automated fare payment was introduced, and validators have been installed in Tashkent, Andijan, Bukhara, Samarkand, Karshi, Namangan, Zarafshan, and Urgench.
Service centers have been established in the regions for the prompt replacement of validators that have become inoperative, as well as for maintaining their reserves.
To stimulate private carriers, the resolution by the head of state "On measures to reform the public transport system" dated February 16, 2023, determined that settlements with carriers providing bus passenger transportation services (hereinafter referred to as carriers) are made by the authorized state body based on the criteria of "distance covered" and "quality".
In addition, special funds of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regional transport departments, and the city of Tashkent have been created to conduct settlements with carriers, maintain automated dispatch management and control systems, and accumulate fare payment revenues. The procedure for compensating the difference between the expenses of the aforementioned special funds and their incomes has been established.
The Ministry of Transport conducted negotiations with representatives of "Uznatsbank" and interested ministries regarding the purchase of new large buses manufactured in China.
For the needs of public transport in Tashkent, 1,013 new buses have been acquired (200 18-meter buses, 500 12-meter buses, with a total of 700 running on natural gas, and 300 12-meter electric buses).
While the gross contract system has been implemented in Tashkent, with contracts signed with the tender winners, it will come into effect in Andijan, Samarkand, Namangan, Karshi, Urgench, Nukus, and other regional centers by the end of 2024.
From November 1, 2023, the cost of a single bus ride in Tashkent has been set at 2,000 soms in cash and 1,700 soms when paying with ATTO cards and plastic cards. If a passenger makes a second trip within an hour, they pay 700 soms, while the third and fourth trips are free. In the metro, the first ride costs 2,000 soms, and the second, third, and fourth cost 1,100 soms each.
For reference: the cost of public transport in Moscow is 50 rubles (8,200 soms), in Tbilisi 1 lari (4,211 soms), in Almaty 80 tenge (2,000 soms), and in Prague 40 crowns (20,240 soms).
The milestones achieved in 2023 by domestic transport workers give reason to expect new successes this year. Timely delivery of passengers and cargo to their destinations, renewal of rolling stock, and improvement in service quality will become the hallmarks of our sector.