BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 22. The Global Gateway Investors Forum on Sustainable Transport Connectivity between Europe and Central Asia will take place on January 29-30, 2024, Peter Stano, the European Commission’s Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told Trend.
"The diversification of trade routes has been on the table for quite some time," he said.
According to Peter Stano, following the war in Ukraine, there is an increased urgency to identify alternative, reliable and efficient trade routes between Europe and Asia that do not pass through Russia.
"The EU wants to be a reliable and predictable partner in a rapidly changing world," he said.
As Peter Stano noted, the importance of transport connectivity was discussed during the EU-Central Asia Ministerial, which took place on 23 October 2023 in Luxembourg.
"We hosted a very successful connectivity conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, last year, and the Global Gateway Forum from October 25-26 in Brussels underscores our strong commitment to strengthening our engagement on transport connectivity. This Forum will be followed by an Investors' Forum on the 29th and 30th of January 2024, which should result in operational measures for the execution of the Study (on sustainable transport corridors connecting the enlarged Trans-European Transport Network and the five Central Asian nations)," he noted.
The European Commission's Lead Spokesperson pointed out that ahead of the Investors’ Forum, the EU is planning the first steps towards the implementation of the soft measures included in the study.
"Before the end of the year, we will adopt a Prosperity Program, which will contribute to improving cross-border coordination and interoperability across Central Asian countries to foster business connectivity along the strategic Trans-Caspian corridor," Peter Stano said.
Meanwhile, the Global Gateway Transport Investors Forum takes forward the conclusions of the EU-commissioned Study on Sustainable Transport Corridors between the EU and Central Asia, and aims to translate the political commitments of the EU and the five countries in Central Asia to enhance and reinforce connectivity into tangible operational deliverables.