EBRD intends to increase investment in maritime transport along Middle Corridor route

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is exploring the prospects of increasing investment volumes in maritime transport along the Middle Corridor route, Nataly Mouravidze, Head of the EBRD Office in Azerbaijan, stated at the EU-Azerbaijan Business Forum in Baku, Report informs.

Mouravidze noted that the EBRD provided financing to the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) CJSC for the purchase of dry cargo vessels operating in international waters and ensuring the functioning of the Middle Corridor specifically.

"We intend to increase investments in the maritime transport sector in the future as it reaches certain milestones. We also provided financing for the expansion of the Aktau port in Kazakhstan, located on the Middle Corridor route, and most recently signed an agreement on the placement of bonds by the National Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy JSC. Both of these initiatives contribute to the development of the Middle Corridor," the head of the office emphasized.

Mouravidze noted that the EBRD also implemented a project to establish a logistics hub and warehouse infrastructure in the Alat Free Economic Zone with the participation of the private sector.

"Certainly, such capital investments allow us to integrate the entire process along the corridor, because what is of fundamental importance is not only the volume of transported goods or the number of handled containers, but the additional economic value generated through the involvement of all key participants and players along this corridor. And not only in the territory of Azerbaijan, but along the entire corridor. Absolutely. It should work as a single mechanism, as an integrated ecosystem," she added.