Kazakhstan presents potential of Eastern branch of North-South int'l transit corridor
The main purpose of the event was to inform the Indian business community of the logistical capabilities of the Eastern branch of the "North-South" transit corridor and to attract Indian business circles to the wider use of this route.
At the opening ceremony, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to India Bulat Sarsenbayev acquainted participants with the State of the Nation Address of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev "Growing welfare of Kazakh citizens: Increase in income and quality of life" and presented a brochure with the text of the Message in Hindi and English languages. He gave an analysis of the high potential of the Eastern branch of the "North-South" route and encouraged the Indian business community to make wide use of it.
The President of JSC "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy Express" Dias Iskakov presented detailed information about the possibilities of this route and the experience of Kazakhstan in its use. There were also presentations and discussions with the participation of Indian public and private structures.
The event was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Shipping of India, the diplomatic corps, the management of the seaport of Mumbai, the Association of Commerce and Industry of India, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chambers of Indian Importers and others. The Indian side was also represented by representatives of more than 30 large transport, logistics and business companies.
A number of bilateral meetings were held during the event. 
At the end of the roundtable, the signing ceremony of the Agreement on transport and forwarding services by rail between JSC "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy Express" and a large Indian logistics company "Tuberose Logistics" took place. The signed document provides for concrete steps by the two sides to develop promising cooperation. The parties also agreed to implement a pilot supply of goods on the route Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran-India until the beginning of the next year.
The roundtable sparked interest in the business and government circles of India. The Joint Secretary Eurasian Division, Ministry of External Affairs of India Mr. Manish Prabhat drew attention to the high perspective of the route.
The management of companies already operating in the Republic of Kazakhstan also attended the roundtable. In particular, Chief operating officer of Special Economic Zone "Khorgos - Eastern Gate" Mr. Hicham Belmaachi, General Director of Goodrich company Mr. Sanju Kollappapillai Mani and Chief Executive Railways KEC International limited logistic company Mr. Rakesh Gaur shared their experience on transport logistic cooperation with Kazakhstan during the event.
The participants of the event emphasized that the wide use of this transport route will significantly reduce the time of cargo delivery and, accordingly, increase the trade turnover between the two countries by two or three times (the current Kazakhstan-India trade turnover is about $ 1 billion).
The event was widely publicized in the media of India.