On Tuesday 23 June, the European Commission launched the Connectivity Platform to strengthen links between Europe and Central Asia through the Black Sea region and the South Caucasus.
The platform will provide a framework for participating countries, international financial institutions and other stakeholders to coordinate investments and policy measures in the transport, energy, digital connectivity and trade sectors.
“The platform will help us connect individual initiatives and develop a common vision for connectivity for the whole region. It will also enable us to build a portfolio of essential priority projects. Lastly, it will help create the conditions needed to mobilise capital on a large scale by bringing together governments, international financial institutions and private investors around a common investment agenda”, European Commissioner Marta Kos stressed at the launch of the platform.
The 26 participants present at the launch agreed to strengthen the operational performance of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor. They invited the Commission to assess the Corridor’s functioning and to propose priority actions to improve its competitiveness.
The Commission also concluded agreements with international financial institutions expected to mobilise up to €2 billion for investments in transport infrastructure, border crossing points and trade facilitation in the Black Sea region and the South Caucasus. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)