The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recommended introducing a prepayment option for inspection fees at the “Red Bridge” border crossing to reduce waiting times and improve efficiency.
According to the ADB, allowing payments in advance would speed up cargo processing upon arrival and ease the administrative burden on both traders and customs authorities.
The recommendation is part of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) initiative, launched in 2001 to reduce economic disparities and promote regional integration. The ADB presented its findings on the “Red Bridge” checkpoint as part of CAREC’s Transport and Trade Facilitation Index assessment.
The checkpoint received an overall weighted efficiency score of 71%, with sub-scores of 0.55 (79%) for “Customs Procedures and Formalities,” 0.15 (77%) for “Customs Coordination,” 0.25 (64%) for “Transport Support Infrastructure,” and 0.05 (0%) for “Transport Regulations.”
Among its strengths, the ADB highlighted electronic processing of key documents, strong ICT infrastructure, pre-arrival customs clearance, electronic data exchange with Georgian customs, and mutual recognition of core documents.
However, key constraints include the mandatory presentation of original documents (passports, commercial driver’s licenses, insurance policies, etc.), no option to submit electronic applications for customs duty refunds or CMR waybills, no prepayment option for inspection fees, limited use of vehicle ID scanning (only 50% of cases), weight and size restrictions for trucks, separate border controls without coordinated management, and low throughput — just 4.7 trucks per lane per hour.
Despite significant logistics infrastructure, congestion and bottlenecks result in the highest waiting times among all regional checkpoints.
Given that large volumes of fresh citrus fruit pass through “Red Bridge,” the ADB also recommended building a cold storage facility nearby.
“Fresh fruit is perishable and temperature-sensitive. Border inspections, delays, and lack of storage shorten shelf life and can lead to spoilage. Cold storage would help preserve product quality and reduce losses,” the report stated.
Since 2001, more than $51 billion in investments have been mobilized for 276 regional projects under CAREC, with a focus on multimodal transport networks, trade facilitation, mobility, and economic corridor development.
The top recipients of CAREC transport sector investments are Kazakhstan (24.6% or $8.44 billion), Uzbekistan (19% or $6.52 billion), and Azerbaijan (16.3% or $5.59 billion). Transport infrastructure accounts for 67.4% of total investments — about $34.3 billion.
The ADB noted that most CAREC countries are rich in natural resources, with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as key oil and gas exporters, and Mongolia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan holding significant reserves of other minerals. In 2023, CAREC countries’ total exports reached $202 billion, with Kazakhstan accounting for $84.39 billion, Azerbaijan $38.15 billion, and Pakistan $31.18 billion — together making up roughly 70% of the region’s total exports.
