US–Eurasia Transportation Forum held at Port of Long Beach
Washington, May 24, AZERTAC
The Consulate Generals of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, with support from the California Foundation on the Environment and Economics (CFEE), co-organized the US–Eurasia Transportation Forum, hosted by the Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles. The forum was dedicated to strengthening strategic partnerships connecting Eurasian transportation corridors with US transport infrastructure.
Participants included government representatives from Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, leadership of the Port of Long Beach, officials from the State of California, and international experts in logistics and industry.
The forum was convened with the overarching aim of strengthening cooperation between the United States and the countries of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor) — Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. Among its central priorities were introducing US partners to the capabilities and development plans of the Middle Corridor, identifying concrete business opportunities for American companies in logistics, ports, railways, digital infrastructure, and green technologies, and expanding port-to-port cooperation between Long Beach and the ports of Baku, Aktau, Kuryk, Poti, and Batumi. The forum equally sought to foster B2B and government-to-business dialogues between US stakeholders and Corridor countries, and to explore avenues for collaboration on digitalization, automation, and smart logistics solutions — all in service of positioning the Middle Corridor as a secure, diversified trade route aligned with America's supply chain resilience goals.
The forum was opened by Douglas Wallace, US Commercial Diplomat (ret.). Dr. Noel Hacegaba, CEO of the Port of Long Beach, delivered welcoming remarks, followed by Beril Unver, Global Protocol Director with the City of Long Beach. The opening session concluded with addresses by the Consul Generals of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan.
Session 1 — "Government Perspectives on Transportation, Transit, and Supply Chain" — was moderated by Jay Hansen, President and CEO of CFEE. Panelists included Mr. Elchin Allahverdiyev, Head of the Climate Diplomacy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan; Ms. Tamar Loseliani, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia; and Ms. Janna Joldasbekova, Director of the Department of International Relations at the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan. The session concluded with a Q&A and open discussion.
In the afternoon, David Harlow, an expert in international logistics and customs regulations, addressed the participants.
Session 2 — "Doing Business in the Corridor: Energy, Technologies, and Data Connectivity" — was moderated by Douglas Wallace. Dr. Kamran Bokhari, an expert on Central Eurasia, briefed participants on the strategic significance of this trade route. Panelists Shahmar Hajiyev (Head of International Relations, Azerbaijan Railways), Lasha Abashidze (CEO, Georgian Railway JSC), Yerkin Nygmetov (CEO, Port of Kuryk), Hugh Hallman (Honorary Consul of Kazakhstan in Arizona), and Kenneth Wengrod (International Trade Expert) presented on regional connectivity, infrastructure investment, green port collaboration, and strategic partnerships.
The forum closed with a boat tour of the Port of Long Beach, giving participants a firsthand look at its cargo handling technologies, automated operations centers, security infrastructure, and container storage facilities.
The US–Eurasia Transportation Forum served as a successful platform for advancing the Middle Corridor's potential and deepening the strategic integration of Eurasian countries with US Pacific Coast port infrastructure. As co-organizers of this year's forum — dedicated to the Middle Corridor and held as a continuation of the 2025 US–Eurasia Energy and Environment Forum — the Consulate Generals of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan plan to build on this momentum by organizing the US–Eurasia Innovation and Technology Forum in the coming year.
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