Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan launches construction of trans-border trade hub

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have launched the construction of an international center for trade and economic cooperation named "Central Asia" on the border of the two countries, the Uzbek government said Monday.

Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov and his Kazakh counterpart, Askar Mamin, laid a capsule at the construction site of the logistics center, which is located in the vicinity of the border checkpoint Gisht Kuprik (called Zhibek Zholy in Kazakhstan), said the Uzbek government's press service.

According to a news release on Kazakh prime minister's official website, the center, which occupies 400 hectares of land, will have a capacity of accommodating 35,000 people and 5,000 trucks per day in both directions.

"The center is intended to become a large industrial, trade and logistics platform for the implementation of joint investment projects of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan," the news release said.

"The most promising areas of industrial cooperation are the manufacturing sector, agro-industrial complex and light industry," it added.

Kazakhstan is Uzbekistan's third largest trade partner after China and Russia. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )