The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is ready to support the improvement of the Middle Corridor to transform it into a main and reliable transport corridor for European economic actors and Asia, AIIB's investment specialist Olivier Oudin told a COP29 event held in Baku, Report informs.
"AIIB's mission is to finance infrastructure for tomorrow. By this, we mean infrastructure that is green, technologically capable, and promotes connectivity and regional cooperation with Asia. We also believe in mobilizing private capital because the needs are great and the financial resources of governments and multilateral financial institutions are not sufficient to meet global transport demands. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has set targets to direct 30% of financial approvals to support cross-border and regional connectivity, 50% of approved financing for climate finance by 2025, and 50% of approved financing to the private sector by 2030," he noted.
Oudin stated that the bank has four main financial instruments for its full capital stack: sovereign bank financing, non-sovereign bank financing, equity investments, and debt guarantees that apply to both sovereign and non-sovereign bank financing.
"In terms of transport infrastructure, we have four main priorities for investment. First, stack connections - projects that provide necessary transport capabilities between major urban centers or main economic areas like highways and railways, or eliminate transport barriers. Cross-border crossing is very important and includes road and railway connections serving cross-border transport."
Oudin noted that hub infrastructures such as airports, seaports, dry ports, multimodal transport hubs, or logistics parks serving international trade flows are also considered part of cross-border infrastructure: "We have transport integration projects that improve seamless transportation across different modes and enhance existing infrastructure."