Kazakh PM tells to speed up Chinese freight trains passing

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev has instructed Kanat Alpysbayev, the President of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy Railway Company, to expedite the through goods trains passing from China during a Government session, Kazinform correspondent reports.

"The consultants told me that with Askar Mamin [First Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan] we have also discussed this fact that clearing the border, I mean the Kazakhstan-China border, is longer than China-Russia. Askar Mamin says it is not the case. Nevertheless, the experts from the World Bank, as to "Doing Business" criteria, will draw their focus on how quickly the transit passes through the border, but not how it is on paper. This needs to be paid attention to," said Bakytzhan Sagintayev.

The Prime Minister also instructed Finance Minister Bakhyt Sultanov to implement digitalization elements at the border.

For his part, Kanat Alpysbaev said that the national comapany had implemented a preliminary reporting system. That is, the information about the trains approaching from deeper in China comes 2 days ahead, and it undergoes electronic processing made with participation of the customs officials. In addition, the work on transition to a unified electronic platform is underway. The framework of the Astana Economic Forum made a foreign company involved in creating such a platform. This will significantly reduce the time of clearing and servicing trains on the Kazakh-Chinese border.

According to Kanat Alpysbayev, the transit cargo transportation intensity through Kazakhstan will have amounted to 16 million tons by the end of 2017 .