TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 4. President of
Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed the establishment of a
“Digital Customs and Logistics Alliance” within the framework of
the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program,
Trend reports via the
press office of the Uzbek President.


He made the proposal during his speech at the 59th Annual
Meeting of the Asian Development Bank Board of Governors in
Samarkand on May 4.


The President noted that disruptions in global logistics
corridors have already increased transportation costs for Central
Asian countries by up to 30%, while delivery times have expanded by
several weeks.


He also highlighted that construction has begun on the
China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, a strategic East-West
transport corridor expected to significantly boost the region’s
transit potential, reduce delivery times to around 10 days, and
enable cargo volumes of up to 15 million tons per year.


In this context, the proposed Digital Customs and Logistics
Alliance is intended to harmonize customs procedures, digitize
documentation processes, and simplify cross-border freight
transportation, thereby improving regional connectivity and
logistics efficiency.







The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program
is a regional partnership launched in 1997 under the leadership of
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to promote economic integration,
connectivity, and development across Central Asia and neighboring
regions. The initiative brings together 11 countries, including
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Azerbaijan, China, Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan and Georgia,
along with several multilateral development partners such as the
World Bank, IMF, EBRD and AIIB.


The program focuses on strengthening cooperation in key areas
including transport, trade facilitation, energy, and digital
connectivity, with a strong emphasis on developing regional
transport corridors and simplifying cross-border procedures. Since
its launch, CAREC has supported large-scale infrastructure and
policy coordination projects aimed at reducing trade barriers,
improving logistics efficiency, and enhancing the region’s
integration into global markets, particularly for landlocked
economies of Central Asia.


Today, CAREC serves as one of the main multilateral platforms
for coordinating regional economic policies and infrastructure
development in Eurasia, with the ADB acting as its secretariat and
key implementing partner.