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Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic | 9–10 December 2025

Kyrgyzstan has taken a major step toward strengthening its trade competitiveness by hosting a high level United Nations workshop focused on reducing the trade and transport costs faced by landlocked developing countries (LLDCs).

The two day national workshop, “From Data to Policy: Strengthening Trade and Transport Cost Analysis in LLDCs,” was held in Bishkek on 9–10 December 2025. The event was organized by the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Kyrgyz Republic in collaboration with the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN OHRLLS), with support from UN regional partners and international organizations.

Opening the workshop, Mr. Tomas Manuel Gonzalez Alvarez, Team Lead for LLDCs at UN OHRLLS, emphasized that for landlocked countries like Kyrgyzstan, distance from the sea translates into daily economic costs.

“What appears as a geographical fact is, in reality, an everyday economic challenge,” Mr. Gonzalez Alvarez said. “Every extra kilometre, every additional border crossing, every day of delay adds cost and uncertainty to trade.”

From Geography to Policy Action

Kyrgyzstan was selected as one of only four pilot countries globally, alongside Burundi, Mongolia and Zimbabwe, under a UN OHRLLS initiative supported by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Sub Fund. According to Mr. Gonzalez Alvarez, the selection reflects the country’s strategic position along emerging trade corridors connecting Central Asia to regional and global markets.

The workshop is part of the implementation of the Awaza Programme of Action for LLDCs 2024–2034, which places reducing trade and transport costs at the center of landlocked countries’ development strategies.

“Our objective is clear,” Mr. Gonzalez Alvarez noted. “To help LLDCs measure their transport and trade costs more accurately and turn that evidence into better policies—policies that improve physical connectivity and make full use of digital solutions for trade facilitation.”

Evidence Based Tools and Findings

Participants, drawn from government institutions, the private sector, academia and international partners, received hands on training in advanced analytical tools. These included macro level methods such as gravity models and trade cost databases, as well as applied tools like the Time Cost Distance Model (TCDM) and the Border Performance Index (BPI), designed to pinpoint where time delays and costs accumulate along transport corridors.

The workshop produced preliminary findings identifying key bottlenecks along major transit corridors through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, China, the Caspian Sea, and onward to Europe and the Middle East. Participants highlighted challenges such as border delays, limited digital integration, unpredictability of transit schedules and high transit charges.

Government Commitment

In his opening and closing remarks, H.E. Mr. Beknazar Bazaraliev, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications of the Kyrgyz Republic, stressed that improving transport efficiency is a national priority.

“As a landlocked developing country, the Kyrgyz Republic faces long transit chains, dependence on neighbouring infrastructure, and high transport and logistics costs,” he said, noting that LLDCs often face expenses 30 to 50 per cent higher than coastal economies.

He underscored the importance of moving beyond direct transport costs.

“Accurate analysis of transport and trade costs is the foundation for effective policies,” Mr. Bazaraliev added. “It is essential to account not only for direct costs but also for border delays, administrative barriers and the predictability of procedures.”

Next Steps

The Bishkek workshop laid the groundwork for deeper cooperation among ministries, transport operators and international partners, and for the development of policy recommendations focused on border modernization, multimodal transport and digital trade solutions such as eTIR.

The outcomes will feed into a global LLDC workshop scheduled for March 2026, where Kyrgyzstan and other pilot countries will showcase how data driven analysis can shape national policies and investment plans.

Concluding his remarks, Mr. Gonzalez Alvarez emphasized the broader impact of the initiative.

“If we succeed in turning data into policy, and policy into concrete improvements on the ground, this workshop will have made a real contribution—not only to Kyrgyzstan’s development journey, but to the wider community of landlocked developing countries.”