Kazakhstan.
The largest country in Central Asia boasts abundant oil and natural gas reserves.
It also enjoys a geographical advantage.
Being located between China and Europe...
enabled it to serve as a gateway connecting the East and West along the Silk Road.
Kim Hyesung has more on the significant role Kazakhstan can still play as a key trading
hub for the world.
Deserts and a sea of endless peaks... of the snow-topped Tianshan mountains.
It's the silk road, an ancient trade route connecting the East and West.
And now, a revival.
One of the last sections of the Western Europe-Western China Highway linking China, Kazakhstan and
Russia has been completed this September.
(Standup) "With the new road open, now it takes about
four hours by car from Almaty to Khorgos, Kazakhstan's border with China."
The highway is part of the One Belt One Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013 to recreate
the silk road by connecting land and sea ports, covering more than 60 countries that account
for a third of the world GDP.
The 130-hectare Khorgos Gateway, lying at the heart of Euraisa, is the second largest
dry port in the world.
(standup) "Here at the Khorgos Gateway, four to five
trains from China arrive everyday, shipping all kinds of goods, from food to the latest
in consumer electronics."
While the highway is awaiting completion in Russia to officially begin operation, trains
have already started shuttling goods between China and Germany, along the 11,000-kilometer
long rail route.
Shipping them via sea lanes takes up to 50 days, but using the railway requires only
around 15 days,... increasing transport efficiency.
Once the highway connecting China and Russia is open, road travel between the continents
is expected to take around 10 days.
Having processed 2 million tons of cargo last year, the Khorgos dry port is working to handle
more.
(English) "Our main goal is to become a regional logistic
hub.
By 2020, we will reach the project capcity which is 540,000 TEUs per year."
Khorgos is also becoming a thriving commercial market of its own.
At the shared free trade zone, Kazakh and Chinese people can cross the border with out
a visa, buy goods at thousands of stores, including food, clothes and even Korean cosmetics
tax-free.
(Chinese) "I come here from China every day.
It's visited by more than 10 thousand people a day.
Over the last three years, sales have doubled almost every year."
Free flow of goods and people.
For Kazakhstan, the ninth largest largest country in the world, the One Belt One Road
Initiative is an opportunity to diversify its economy.
(English) "landlocked country, before...
it was very difficult, Because of the decrease of logistical costs, other sectors of economy
like manufacturing became very attractive for the foreign direct investment."
And companies, like Dongsung, are hitching a ride on the boom.
(Korean) "We commissioned a third of the road connecting
Almaty and Khorgos.
Kazakhstan's developing rapidly, and with more infrastructure projects underway, there
are more opportunities for Korean companies to do business here."
(Korean) "Following the collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1991, countries in Eurasia that used to be isolated are slowly reconnecting with the
world.
At a time when the global economy is slowing down, the new silk road won't just make transportation
more efficient, and increase exchanges of goods and energy resources, it will also drive
the global economy and mark an important chapter of modern history."
The one-trillion dollar One Belt One Road project is still in its initial stages, but
a glimpse of that future is already beeing seen in Khorgos, once again connecting the
east and west as a vibrant transit hub.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News, Khorgos.