Kyrgyz President Justifies Hiring Foreign Teams for China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan Railway

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has explained why foreign specialists - not local workers - are building the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.

The president said that Kyrgyzstan simply doesn’t have the technical experience or equipment required for a megaproject of this scale, The Caspian Post informs via Kyrgyz media.

President Japarov pointed out that even domestic road projects often face delays.

“What kind of railway are we talking about if our companies cannot even properly asphalt the roads in Naryn?” he said, recalling that Kyrgyz contractors still haven’t completed the Balykchy-Barskoon section on Issyk-Kul’s southern shore four years after receiving the project.

“When I visited, there were hardly any workers. They told me, ‘After payday, many disappear for three or four days,’” he noted.

The president contrasted this with China Road Company, which quickly completed asphalt work on the Korumdu-Balbay section on the northern shore. He emphasized that Kyrgyzstan also lacks critical equipment - from tunnel-drilling machinery to bridge-building technologies - needed for mountain railway construction.

“If we want to build the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway ourselves, we won’t finish it in 30 years,” President Japarov said.

He added that Kyrgyzstan is currently building the Balykchy-Kochkor-Kara-Keche branch independently - but only because it runs across flat terrain. Local specialists are still gaining expertise, and Kyrgyz engineers have been sent to work on the trilateral project specifically to learn from international teams.

“When we have our own professionals, then we can say, ‘We will build everything ourselves.’ It’s too early for that,” he concluded.