Русский
The transport ministries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on the proposed Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway project, also known as the Central Asia-South Asia (CASA), which would give the region access to Pakistani seaports, according to a statement by the Kazakh government.
The CASA project envisages a new railway route linking Central and South Asia and creating new opportunities for international transport, trade, logistics and investment cooperation.
The Kazakh government stated that “Under the MoU, the sides intend to conduct technical and economic studies and analytical assessments and examine the feasibility of developing the necessary railway infrastructure and related facilities. The signatories also plan to set up a working group to comprehensively address the project’s technical, economic and financial aspects. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have well-developed railway infrastructure and significant transit potential. The UAE has international expertise in transport infrastructure, logistics and implementing major investment projects. Combining these capabilities will allow the sides to move to practical work on the CASA project and determine the optimal mechanisms for its implementation.
The Central Asia-South Asia Trans-Afghan transport corridor can carry up to 10 million tonnes of cargo toward the Pakistani ports of Karachi and Gwadar. Kazakhstan has said it is ready to join Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in building railways through the Afghan towns of Mazar-i-Sharif and Turgundi to Herat.
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov has previously stated that Russian freight shipments along the planned Trans-Afghan Railway are tentatively estimated at between 8 million-15 million tonnes per year, with the main volumes comprising fertilizer, oil freight, ferrous metals, and hard coal.
Russian and Uzbekistan railways signed an agreement in April 2025 on sharing information in the development of the feasibility study, including cost effectiveness of the routes. Uzbekistan’s Transport Ministry has previously estimated that the construction of the Trans-Afghan Railway would take at least five years and cost about US$4.8 billion.
