Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the United Arab Emirates have signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop the strategic Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan (CASA) railway corridor, UzDaily.uz reported.
The agreement was finalized between the Ministries of Transport of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.
The initiative aims to create a seamless transport corridor linking landlocked Central Asia directly to Pakistan’s deep-water seaports. For Uzbekistan, which serves as the geographic and logistical core of the route, the UAE's involvement provides crucial financial backing and the technical expertise of world-class port and logistics operators to accelerate construction along the Afghan segment.
The signing of the memorandum marks a decisive shift for the Trans-Afghan railway project, moving it from regional discussions into the practical formation of an international investment consortium. Bringing Emirati capital into the fold addresses the project's primary structural bottleneck: securing institutional financing for complex infrastructure deployment within Afghanistan.
For Uzbekistan and its neighbors, this corridor offers the shortest access route to the Indian Ocean, reducing export transit costs by an estimated 30–40% and providing direct reach to dynamic South Asian markets.
Furthermore, the CASA route synergizes seamlessly with the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway, cementing Tashkent’s position as a premier logistical crossroads at the heart of Eurasia.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
October 1, 2026