Pakistan and Turkey have decided to boost the collaboration between them regarding Pakistan Turkiye railway partnership via investments, technology transfer, infrastructure development, and increased connectivity in the region. This was achieved during a meeting between the Minister of Railways of Pakistan, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, and the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, in which both had extensive talks about boosting collaboration in the rail transport sector.

Pakistan Turkiye Railway Partnership: Reviving the ITI Freight Corridor

One of the primary areas of discussion revolved around the ITI Freight Corridor project, which involves a collaboration between the two countries to ensure that the corridor becomes a viable and sustainable transportation route between South Asia, Central Asia, and Europe. This project was viewed as an essential one that could lead to a significant increase in trade and economic cooperation in the region.

The representatives of Pakistan gave the Turkish delegation an overview of the modernization plans for the Main Line-3 (ML-3) railroad from Rohri to Taftan and its significance in improving rail connectivity with Iran. The improvement of this rail line is an essential step towards the development of the infrastructure that will be needed for the effective functioning of the corridor.

In addition to this, the progress made on the Karachi-Rohri stretch of ML-1 was also discussed in this meeting. On the other hand, Turkish companies have been invited to consider making investments in the other phases of the same project. It shows that Pakistan is also taking an initiative to bring in foreign investment in its railways sector.

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The other topic of discussion during the meeting was the possibility of including Turkey in the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan Railway Corridor (UAPRC), which was seen by both parties as an important project in terms of fostering future connectivity between the regions. The involvement of Turkey in the corridor would lend more significance to the project that already has many Central Asian countries interested in it.

A detailed presentation of the digital transformation strategy of Pakistan Railways was made in relation to the improvements being made in the field of signaling, rolling stock, operational efficiency, and greater involvement of the private sector. It was agreed by both sides that cooperation should be enhanced in the area of digital railways, technology transfer, capacity building, and efficient railway management.

The two delegations also discussed possibilities of joint investments and cooperation in industry at the Carriage Factory Islamabad, as well as the concrete sleeper factories and workshops of Pakistan Railways. The discussions involved joint ventures, localization of rail manufacturing, and transfer of technologies for manufacturing passenger coaches, freight cars, and other railway equipment. This clearly shows the intention of developing domestic manufacturing capabilities as opposed to importation of such equipment.

Both nations provided presentations to each other regarding their rail transport initiatives, investments, and connectivity projects. The two nations have committed to institutional collaboration through technical discussions and coordination at the working level to ensure that their common proposals are put into practice.

Minister Abbasi addressing the occasion stated that Pakistan Railways is interested to learn from the experiences of Turkey in respect of the modernization of railway, latest technology and development of infrastructure. It was highlighted that the enhanced partnership between Pakistan Railways and Turkey will not only help in the modernization process but will also result in the economic development of the region.