To avoid shipping goods via Russia, which faces sanctions due to the war in Ukraine, many European countries are rediscovering an ancient trade route. The Central Asian middle silk road crosses the Caspian Sea – not an easy venture.

"To bring a train on a ship is not ideal so this is a slow and expensive way, but we believe that this pass is extremely important for the markets along this route because they are growing," says Wolfram Senger-Weiss, the CEO of Austria's leading freight company Gebrüder Weiss. 

The family business has been increasing its use of the middle silk road in recent years to transport goods between China and Europe. 

The increasingly popular trade corridor runs through Türkiye, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea, and via Kazakhstan to China.

Investments along the Middle Silk Road are particularly worthwhile in areas where traffic has been slow or where capacities are growing. Gebrüder Weiss is for example investing at the port of Azerbaijan's capital, where the possible volume of containers is being increased fivefold.

According to the Azerbaijan Railway Company, its freight transport to Kazakhstan increased eight-fold between January and October last year.

Gebrüder Weiss has a prominent history of investments in Asia. In the early 90s, the family business was among the first Western companies to open up a branch in China. 

"Being with the very first on the ground always gave us a competitive advantage in our development," Senger-Weiss told CGTN. "We have very strong ties with China and today we have about 19 offices, about 450 employees." 

The company's latest business venture is express shipping from China directly to European customers, without stops at European logistics hubs.

But whether these goods will run through the middle silk road or via a different corridor will depend on the continuing development of the world's freight routes.

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