Iron Silk Road Trans-Caspian East-West-Middle Corridor Initiative and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line: Impact on International Trade

Background

Railroads are an important issue in economic, social and political organizations in modern societies. For developed industries, general capabilities such as specialized industry, mass production, membership in world markets and logistics activities carried out with efficient means of transportation throughout the supply chain are of importance. Cultural transcendence, which has developed thanks to globalization, enables the international trade of international businesses to increase more and more (Zakaria et al, 2021). In this sense, the BRI project has turned into a truly global system covering many regions, countries and cities with the aim of establishing connections between different regions (Grydehøj et al, 2020). Within the scope of this project, it is planned to carry out a significant number of railway projects, since railways are the most efficient means of transportation (. Turkey is in an important position especially as it will be one of the European gateways of this network.

In logistics sector, different types of transportation, namely modes, are generally used in freight and passenger transportation. These modes have specific advantages and disadvantages. For example, while road transport is considered the most flexible mode, railway has the lowest transportation cost and is a suitable mode for the transportation of bulky goods despite high investment cost.

Development in foreign trade activities directly affects countries’ growth. Increase in mass production by advancing technology necessitates bulk shipments. In this regard, railroad transportation is the most important alternative to sea transportation regarding mass transportation.

There is evidence that the use and quality of infrastructure to be provided in different projects positively affects trade flows and volume (Ramasamy and Yeung, 2019). Belt and Road project is mainly based on traditional and underdeveloped logistics trade routes covering both the terrestrial and oceanic Silk Road (An et al., 2018). The re-activation of the economic belt of the Great Silk Road within the globalization steps with the Belt Road project provides new and important opportunities for the economies of the countries on this road (Raimbekov et al, 2021). Today, the main factors of the integration of these countries are logistics, international trade and tourism Raimbekov et al., 2018. (.Using the Silk Road, Asian and European explorers have traded many products and shared cultural elements for nearly 1000 years. This cooperation and openness and as a route of mutual benefit in international trade are thought to contribute to the welfare of the countries through which it passes (Wang et al, 2019). The ring road project will increase the flow and volume of trade. Because the venture project includes infrastructure development, human knowledge and international relations to improve business relations (Kong et al., 2020). In addition, the demand in information and coordinated logistics services due to the Belt and Road Initiative project shows an increasing interest in frequent international trade transactions (Li et al., 2020).