BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 27. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is looking at opportunities to support private financing in Middle Corridor, Ivana Fernandes Duarte, IFC Regional Manager for the South Caucasus said, Trend reports.
She made the remark during a presentation of the Middle Corridor study compelled by the World Bank held today in Tbilisi, Georgia.
"So, on the IFC side, as the private arm of the World Bank Group, we are also stepping up our activities. We are looking at opportunities to support the private sector along the Middle Corridor, as well as eligible enterprises. We are exploring support for special logistics, shipping, rolling stock, and infrastructure," she said.
The regional manager pointed out that the establishment of an advisory board of private sector experts would be helpful in assisting the governments along the route.
"Coordination with input from the private sector would be valuable in enhancing strategies for investments, ongoing digitalization, and other areas. Indeed, infrastructure development also requires the participation of private sector financing, as governments may not have sufficient resources. They have been engaging in recovery efforts post-COVID, and there are various aspects they need to address," Ivana Fernandes Duarte added.
The Middle Corridor links the container rail freight networks of China and the European Union via Central Asia, the Caucasus, Türkiye, and Eastern Europe.
Multilateral multimodal transportation infrastructure links ferry terminals of the Caspian and Black Seas with railway systems of China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Poland.
The middle corridor contributes to increased cargo traffic from China to Türkiye, as well as to European countries and in the opposite direction.
A route train along this corridor delivers cargo from China to Europe in an average of 20-25 days, which is one of the main advantages of this transport corridor.