The use of digital solutions developed by UNECE’s subsidiary, the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), can improve the sustainability and resilience of supply chains and enhance global connectivity. By aligning data to UN/CEFACT standards, a common semantic foundation can be established for data exchange among different port and railway information systems and other modes of transport.
The benefits of this include reducing economic costs, enabling seamless data interchange between different modes of transport and sectors in the supply chain, and simplifying and automating business processes. This can ultimately increase business competitiveness.
As part of the implementation of the digitalization roadmap for the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, which was adopted by participating states of the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) in November 2023, UNECE recently organized two capacity-building seminars in Turkmenistan. These seminars aimed to streamline efforts to digitalize transport and supply chains along the Trans-Caspian and other corridors in the region.
In 2023, the total cargo transported via the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor increased by 86%, reaching 2.8 million tons. According to a World Bank study, with targeted investments and policy reforms, the Middle Corridor has the potential to triple its trade volumes by 2030 and reduce travel time by half.
The first seminar focused on aligning port-to-port data exchange in the Trans-Caspian Corridor to UN/CEFACT standards and the Multimodal Transport Reference Data Model (MMT RDM). The second seminar, held under the SPECA Chairmanship of Turkmenistan in 2025, focused on developing and using an electronic equivalent of the SMGS railway consignment note along the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran (KTI) railway corridor.
Representatives from UNECE, UNESCAP, and the railway agencies of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran discussed the possibilities of this project in cooperation with the three governments and various stakeholders. The participants recommended that the railways and business community of the KTI and SPECA participating states promote the digital transformation of documents accompanying goods in the KTI corridor, in alignment with UN/CEFACT standards.
Finally, the 20th session of the SPECA Working Group on Trade in Ashgabat reviewed national and regional plans and strategies for trade facilitation and sustainable development. The participants identified priority actions for the Working Group to focus on in the coming years, including collaboration in the WTO process, progress in the implementation of the SPECA Trade Facilitation Strategy, and the digitalization of data and document exchange in multimodal transport and trade using UN standards.