Kazakhstan is seeking a partnership between the Port of Antwerp-Bruges and its Caspian ports of Aktau and Kuryk as the country looks to expand trade along the Middle Corridor, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said. Speaking at the Belgium-Kazakhstan Business Council in Astana, attended by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Tokayev said Kazakhstan was investing heavily in railways, roads, seaports and terminals along the route. We anticipate a concrete partnership linking the ports of Antwerp-Bruges, with the ports of Aktau and Kuryk.
This could open wider markets for our metals, petrochemicals and agricultural products,” he said. King Philippe also expressed Belgium’s support for the Middle Corridor, calling for closer links between the route and European ports, railways and logistics hubs. The Middle Corridor, also known as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, connects China with Europe through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea and the South Caucasus, providing an alternative to traditional east-west routes.
A day earlier, Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund which manages some of the country’s largest transport, energy and industrial companies, told reporters on the sidelines of the official welcoming ceremony for King Philippe and Queen Mathilde at Akorda that talks with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges were underway. He said Kazakhstan was interested in drawing on the Belgian port’s expertise and eventually reaching concrete agreements and logistics contracts. Speaking later to Euronews, Zhakupov said the route's viability would ultimately depend on its economic case.
That is why negotiations are ongoing — it is a large and complex process,” he said. Speaking to Euronews after a session on new trade routes between Europe and Central Asia, Ahlers Logistics CEO Dave van den Bos said that while investment in physical infrastructure was already under way, one of the biggest challenges was coordinating handovers between the numerous companies and authorities involved along the route. As many as 15 different companies or authorities can be involved in a single shipment from Europe to Kazakhstan, van den Bos said.
Infrastructure is easier to fix than the whole digitisation of it.” Van den Bos said transit times from Europe to Kazakhstan had fallen from around 80 days to roughly 40–60 days, although port congestion and weather on the Caspian Sea still cause delays. According to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the country’s national railway company, the Middle Corridor transported around 44,000 TEUs in the first eight months of 2026, up 58% from the same period last year. Kazakhstan is seeking to increase overall freight volumes along the route to 10 million tonnes, a target Tokayev previously announced.
Belgium is among Kazakhstan’s ten largest investors, with more than $15 billion invested in the country over the past two decades, according to Tokayev. The forum's sidelines saw 17 agreements covering logistics, agriculture and food processing, artificial intelligence, energy, healthcare and manufacturing. Tokayev also highlighted critical raw materials, stating Kazakhstan already produced 21 of the 34 raw materials considered critical for European industry and supplies Belgium with titanium and molybdenum products.
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