CENTRAL ASIAN EXPERTS ADVANCE REGIONAL PILOT FOR DIGITAL FREIGHT TRANSPORT

The meeting brings together members of the Regional Expert Group on Digital Trade Facilitation Standards. Over the course of the workshop, the group is discussing and refining a pilot project concept paper on the electronic consignment note (eCMR), based on UN/CEFACT standards. The concept paper is intended to be presented to the Regional Network of National Trade Facilitation Committees for further discussion.  

The work is part of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor Capacity Development Programme, implemented by GIZ and Expertise France and co-funded by the European Union as well as the German and French Government. 

EUDEL KZ

The meeting underscored the role of digital interoperability in improving corridor efficiency, with harmonised data standards and compatible systems helping to reduce digital barriers and facilitate smoother cross-border movement of goods. The Tashkent meeting builds on established regional cooperation on digital trade facilitation, including public-private dialogue and work on paperless trade, transport and transit, eTIR and ePhyto, alongside cooperation with UNECE to strengthen understanding of international standards and multimodal data exchange.

In 2025, a regional UN/CEFACT capacity-development programme brought together 25 experts from all five Central Asian countries. The programme moved the discussion from general awareness towards practical competencies, including business-process analysis, data modelling, electronic messages, the UN/CEFACT Multimodal Transport Reference Data Model and eCMR.  

This process led to the establishment of the Regional Expert Group and the identification of eCMR as the first practical use case for developing a regionally harmonised approach to digital transport data. 

The current meeting focuses on taking this work further. Experts are discussing the business processes, data requirements, terminology, identifiers and code lists relevant to the proposed eCMR pilot, while examining how regional requirements can remain aligned with UN/CEFACT standards.  

The objective is not to create a single IT system for Central Asia. Instead, the work aims to establish a common semantic foundation that allows different national systems to exchange information reliably.  

The pilot project concept paper will subsequently be presented to the Regional Network of National Trade Facilitation Committees, providing a basis for further regional discussion and potential practical implementation.

For more information, please contact:

EU Delegation to Kazakhstan: delegation-kazakhstan-pic@eeas.europa.eu

TCTC Capacity Development programme: zhibek.abylbekova@giz.de