The economic outlook for Kazakhstan's road transport will remain moderate due to the expected moderate growth in investment in infrastructure and industrial production in Kazakhstan, as well as a slowdown in world trade in 2017-2018. The main contribution to the growth in traffic volumes can be provided by transit traffic. Nevertheless, the transport sector will remain one of the most important sectors of development, diversifying export routes and realizing the country's transit potential.
Kazakhstan has become an active participant in global integration processes and has paid great attention to developing a good transport infrastructure with a high level of service. The productivity of trucks of Kazakhstani transport companies and the load on the road network were significantly higher compared to companies in other EAEU countries. However, tariffs for road freight transport in Kazakhstan are higher than in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, but lower than in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The share of transportation costs in the cost of the final product is relatively high and amounts to 11%, respectively, for domestic road transport, while in countries with developed market economies this figure is 4-4.5%. In Kazakhstan, the share of logistics costs can be up to 25% of the cost of the final product, while the global average is 11%, in China - 14%, in the European Union it is 11%, in the USA and Canada - 10%. As a result, the transport load in the economy of Kazakhstan is two times greater than in developed countries.
Income per kilometer from the total length of roads in Kazakhstan amounted to about 3,000 km, which is 13% higher than in Kyrgyzstan. However, in terms of truck efficiency, Kyrgyzstan had a higher revenue per unit of $ 790 compared to $ 660 in Kazakhstan. There are no data on the revenues of transport companies from other countries.
Demand for environmentally friendly logistics solutions or green logistics is gradually becoming a common feature in most modern logistics environments. Technological progress is also likely to continue in the field of road freight transport. Improving energy efficiency in trucks can have the greatest impact on the shipping structure in Kazakhstan.
In the long run, this can lead to lower costs for trucks and, consequently, to increase their competitiveness. Trucks still have a 50-65% fuel economy potential using existing technologies. These technologies include measures to improve diesel efficiency; the introduction of hybrids; natural gas utilization (CNG / LNG). The introduction of autonomous trucks in freight transportation is not so relevant (the wide distribution of these vehicles is unlikely until 2025).
Thus, we can conclude that the tariffs for transportation to Kazakhstan are much higher and have a good effect on the economy, especially for road transportation, due to the flexibility of transportation and their rapid modernization.
