BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 12. The Middle Corridor
can be one of the most important routes in the world, Aryeh
Lightsone, Senior Advisor to the Board of Peace, said.


“With a little innovation and creativity, we can get the
Middle Corridor to be one of the most important routes in the
world, not just in the region. TRIPP breaks a decades-long deadlock
between Azerbaijan and Armenia and increases the chance of
sustaining peace and economic viability across Central Asia and the
Caspian. Regional integration is not optional: it is critical,”
Lightstone said, addressing the 10th anniversary Trans-Caspian
Forum, held by the Caspian Policy Center in Washington, DC on June
10.


Lightstone emphasized in his remarks that “we see new
opportunities for growth across the Trans-Caspian. The TRIPP model
aims to facilitate private investment to enhance infrastructure
efficiency and harmonize regulatory frameworks. The TRIPP Plus
Enterprise Fund will help facilitate private investment in
other private areas of infrastructure efficiency, digital
connectivity through infrastructure improvements, customs, and
regulatory harmonization. The goal is not to get a larger slice of
a finite pot—the goal is to grow that pot.”  


The Middle Corridor is an international transport route that
connects Asia and Europe through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the
South Caucasus and Turkey. It serves as an alternative to the
traditional Northern and Southern corridors, offering a shorter
overland route that bypasses longer maritime shipping lanes.


Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration, Arman
Shakkaliyev earlier said at the Eurasian Economic Forum, that his
country plans to boost the capacity of the Middle Corridor to 10
million tons by 2030.







According to him, a roadmap for the simultaneous elimination of
route bottlenecks and the development of transport and logistics
infrastructure has already been adopted to achieve this goal.


"By the end of 2025, the volume of shipments along the
Trans-Caspian International Corridor increased by 62%, while
container traffic increased by 2.7 times. We have set the ambitious
goal of increasing the capacity of the Middle Corridor to 10
million tons by 2030," Shakkaliyev noted.


On August 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C., President of the
Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia
Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint declaration, with the participation
of the President of the U.S., Donald Trump. The document provides
for the commissioning of the Zangezur Corridor (Trump Route for
International Peace and Prosperity) as part of the restoration of
regional relations.


In January 2026, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Washington and presented
a framework program for the implementation of the TRIPP
project.