Kazakhstan | Almaty

Road transport is like electricity: IRU to Almaty

3 Oct 2025 · Environment

With over 1,000 delegates at Kazakhstan's major transport and logistics event this week, IRU highlighted road freight’s transformative role in Central Asia and Eurasia in recent decades, and the need to now focus on the “three Ds” in addition to the overarching “D”, development.

Delegates from 33 countries attended the “Seventh International Transport & Logistics Business Forum: New Silk Way”, organised by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport, in Almaty. Opening the event via video conference, Kazakhstan’s President underlined transport and logistics as drivers of the economy and international cooperation.

Following the president’s remarks and the ministers’ strategic session, IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto delivered a keynote speech. He recalled how, 25 years ago, IRU and its members led pilot operations, under the NELTI project, testing the feasibility of China–EU road deliveries along northern, central and southern routes.

“While many politicians and businesses were sceptical about the project, it proved visionary, connecting major manufacturing and consumption regions via Eurasian and Central Asian countries,” said Umberto de Pretto.

The project’s outcomes triggered key developments such as the construction of the game-changing “Western Europe–Western China” corridor to China’s accession to the TIR Convention and the modernisation of international road transport agreements. Today, China–EU road deliveries are routine, slashing costs and transport times.

Umberto de Pretto also underscored the importance of resilience. “Resilient, sustainable connectivity requires a resilient, sustainable road transport sector. This is central to IRU’s work to advance the industry around the world, with a particular focus on what we call the “three Ds”: driver shortage, digitalisation and decarbonisation.”

At the event, IRU members from seven countries – ABADA, AIRCUZ, ASMAP, AIRTO KR, BAMAP, KAZATO and THADA – echoed these messages, sharing insights on how to jointly strengthen the sector by removing barriers to trade and transport.

We know best

The 8th Meeting of Ministers of Transport of the Organization of Turkic States, which convened in Almaty as part of the Forum, focused on the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route through digital tools and electronic transit procedures. The ministers agreed to accelerate the implementation of digital instruments such as eTIR, e-CMR and e-Permits.

In a separate partnership dialogue organised by the Eurasian Economic Commission, ministries, associations, logistics companies, and enforcement agencies discussed border delays, migration laws, permits, inconsistency between customs and transport laws, and trailer swap mechanisms.

Opening the dialogue, Umberto de Pretto stressed the value of public-private partnerships: “Operators are on the ground. They know best how to run services efficiently and sustainably. It is imperative that governments listen to us.”

The dialogue concluded with an award ceremony recognising Eurasia’s top road transport operators.

Like electricity

In a high-level bilateral ahead of the Forum, Umberto de Pretto and Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport, H.E. Nurlan Sauranbayev, discussed the key role of road transport and the TIR system in enhancing transit and trade transparency.

“Road transport is like electricity, it follows the path of least resistance,” said Umberto de Pretto. “Governments should fully deploy the soft measures available to them, such as TIR and CMR, and their digital versions, as well as TIR-EPD for advance risk management and dedicated TIR Green Lanes at borders.”

Nurlan Sauranbayev invited IRU to help create a unified road transport map of Eurasia consolidating key data on transport and transit routes, hard infrastructure, and current and future freight volumes. This would help apply a more harmonised approach, enabling the industry to meet growing freight volumes.

Just as in the days of the Silk Road, Kazakhstan remains central to regional and global trade. It has long been considered a golden bridge between China and Europe.