The European Commission and the European Investment Bank intend to invest 1.5 billion euros in strategic transport infrastructure facilities in Central Asia to create a transport corridor from the region, Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People Valdis Dombrovskis said when opening the two-day Global Gateway transport investment forum in Brussels, dedicated to transport links between the EU and Central Asia, Report informs.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), represented by its Vice President Mark Bowman, will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Kazakhstan, with an investment pipeline worth 1.5 billion euros with projects already under preparation for the overall development of transport connectivity in the Central Asian region.
Over the next two days, participants will discuss the required investments to transform the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor into a cutting-edge, multimodal, and efficient route, connecting Europe and Central Asia within 15 days.
The 10 billion euro commitment is a mixture of ongoing and planned investments which, following extensive consultations with international partners present at the Forum, the European Commission foresees to be mobilized for sustainable transport development in Central Asia in the short term.
The Global Gateway strategy is the EU's positive offer to reduce the worldwide investment disparity and boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems.
In a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States, and European development finance institutions, together we aim to mobilize up to 300 billion euros in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027, creating essential links rather than dependencies, and closing the global investment gap.