The EC announces 10 billion euros in investments to connect Europe and Central Asia

The European Commission (EC) announced this Monday that European and international financial institutions will sign commitments to mobilize 10 billion euros in investments to develop sustainable transport connections between the European Union (EU) and Central Asia that represent an alternative to transit Russia.

The investments will be specifically allocated to strengthening the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, an 11,000 kilometer route that connects Asia with Europe through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as explained by the economic vice president of the EC, Valdis Dombrovskis, at the beginning. of an EU-Central Asia Investment Forum.

The 10 billion euros that the EC expects to be mobilized “in the short term” include investments already underway and others planned, among them, 1.47 billion euros in financing from the European Investment Bank to the Governments of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as well as the Development Bank of that last country, whose agreement was signed this Monday.

Also included are 1.5 billion euros in financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to implement projects in Kazakhstan, whose agreement will also be signed today.

“Our long-term goal is to make the Corridor a multimodal, competitive, sustainable, intelligent and fast route to connect our regions in fifteen days or less,” Dombrovskis said.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the “urgency” of finding alternative trade routes that are reliable to connect Asia with Europe without passing through Russia, recognizes the Community Executive, which also sees in this task an opportunity for companies and to promote integration with Central Asia. .

In this sense, the high representative for foreign policy of the EU, Josep Borrellrecalled that the EU has imposed “substantial sanctions against Russia that have significantly weakened its war machine,” but despite this the conflict continues and cooperation with the Central Asian countries is necessary to ensure that they work.

“We do not see the light at the end of the tunnel and for these sanctions to be effective, we need full cooperation from our partners,” said Borrell, who assured that Brussels is “closely analyzing” trade between the EU and Central Asian countries and between them and Russia to “try to analyze what mechanisms allow sanctions to be evaded.”

The head of European diplomacy insisted that the region has become “crucial” for the EU and urged to increase cooperation between the two to “address global challenges” and improve the economic security of both parties.

“We have to invest much more in physical connections between Europe and Central Asia that allow us to overcome past dependencies, diversify and find alternatives for transport, energy and supply chains,”