Marta Kos: [00:00:03] So how can we ensure that our trade and energy connections are more secure between Europe and Asia? (.) What challenges must we address together, and how can it benefit everyone involved? Dear Ministers, Excellencies, esteemed representatives of international financial institutions, friends from the private sector, ladies and gentlemen, warmly welcome in the name of the European Commission, and also especially Commissioner Josef Sikela, who wishes he could be here. Many of you are familiar with him, but he is in Brazil today.
It is extraordinary that in the world that is becoming more and more full of conflicts, we are choosing to move together in the opposite direction, towards more cooperation. And this is what the platform we are launching is all about. Europe is a continent of traders. [00:01:04] It is linked to the rest of the world by a dense web of economic relationships. One-fifth of the GDP of the European Union is generated by trade. (.) For a long time, this trade was underpinned by a legal and geopolitical world order that provided stability and predictability. (.) Today, this assumption no longer holds. Today, the very links that created prosperity can also become instruments of coercion. We have seen how trade, imbalances are used to exert pressure. We have seen how energy links are weaponized. And more recently, by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, what kind of influences this has had on all of us. (.) All our dependencies are now under scrutiny. So we ask the questions like, can we trust the suppliers? Can we trust the servers where our data is stored? (.) And can we trust the stability of the roads, railways, [00:02:07] and trains? And can we trust the data cables on which our goods and services are transported? (.) Those very same questions are asked all over the world. (.) We know that a world trade system that is less open and forced to build in redundancies is a loss for everyone. (.) But there are also many areas where we can achieve a win-win. (.) One of those win-wins is upgrading transport and energy links via the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. This serves both sides. Europe and Central Asia. It provides more reliable options to all of us. It responds to an ask by business leaders. They often tell me, provide us with reliable alternatives and we will come. (.) It equally responds to an ask by our citizens. They expect us to take measures that mitigate the risk for shocks and economic disruptions.
[00:03:10] The clear need for increased trade along the central route is obvious. Northern routes through Russia face significant challenges, while southern routes are unpredictable. At the same time, the South Caucasus is becoming a new center of stability, and Armenia’s recent election demonstrates public support for peace and collaboration. Since 2022, trade along this route has quadrupled, with European companies entering the market to transport electronics, machinery, and industrial components between Europe and China. However, we shouldn’t view it merely as a connecting road between Europe and China; it serves as a gateway to global trade for anyone along this corridor. For instance, last September, Kazakhstan successfully exported its first commercial shipment of wheat flour via this route to New York. [00:04:17] The main obstacles to this alternative route are shipping duration and capacity, which can still take up to 45 days to travel from the China-Kazakhstan border to Romania. We aim to reduce this to just 15 days, which is significantly quicker than any vessel could reach Europe. To achieve this, we have conducted a comprehensive study to pinpoint bottlenecks and areas needing attention. This study, informed by the efforts of international partners and financial institutions, validates what many here are already aware of: with the appropriate investments and reforms, this corridor can fulfill our requirements. If executed properly, trade volumes could triple by 2030 and increase five times by 2040. [00:05:18] We are committed to making this happen, alongside you. This is the essence of the Connectivity Agenda platform we are launching today. It draws from the successful Caspian Transport Corridor Coordination Platform initiated at the end of 2024, which facilitates cooperation between the EU and our Central Asian partners. The Connectivity Agenda platform will elevate our collaborative efforts along the entire corridor, helping us connect various initiatives and forge a shared vision for connectivity across the broader region. Additionally, it will assist us in establishing a pipeline of key projects that hold true significance.
It will also aid in creating conditions to mobilize capital on a large scale by uniting governments, international financial institutions, and private investors around a common investment agenda. (.) [00:06:19] It is impressive to witness the representation of so many different countries in this room, exactly 26. Collectively, we create a bridge connecting Europe, South Caucasus, and Central Asia. (.) Working in collaboration with international financial institutions, businesses, and investors, we can address the challenges identified in our studies. Many of these challenges are tangible, such as gaps in railway and road networks, restrictions in capacity, and infrastructural deficiencies.
The Haukoulo-Kapikoulé railway project serves as a prime example. (.) It is a modernization and high-speed rail initiative in Turkey that links the western part of Istanbul to the main railway border crossing into Bulgaria and the European Union. This will shorten travel times and enhance freight capacity between Europe and Asia. (.) [00:07:20] Another instance of overcoming physical barriers is the endeavor we are undertaking in Ukraine and Moldova to upgrade the railway infrastructure. (.) For decades, their railway system has operated on different tracks than most of Europe. This discrepancy poses a genuine obstacle. (.) It requires considerable time, as goods must be switched from one system to another. (.) One of the projects we are formalizing today is in collaboration with the European Investment Bank. We are working on establishing a new electrified railway compliant with European standards extending from Ungheni in Moldova at the Romanian border to Chișinău, the nation’s capital. This line will run parallel to the existing route and directly link it to a new freight terminal near the Moldovan capital. (.) All of these initiatives aim to close the gaps in our efforts to connect Europe and Asia via quicker, safer, and more reliable transportation paths. Alongside our Central Asian partners, we are also initiating clean energy projects, [00:08:24] broadening digital networks, and developing critical mineral supply chains.
Other challenges we need to tackle are the lack of regulatory nature, different border procedures, incompatible systems and other administrative delays. We are addressing this by aligning rules, connecting custom systems and moving more procedures online. A good example is our work with the International Trade Center to extend existing and effective digital tools from Central Asia to our Eastern partners or the Customs and Logistics Center in Yerevan. We help construct. They are making it easier and faster to process goods that cross borders. And finally, we will use the Connectivity Agenda platform to work together in removing financial hurdles. Today, we are signing projects with EU contribution of over 80 million euro, which can mobilize more than 2 billion euros in investments across transport, energy and digital connectivity. [00:09:32] And this is just the beginning. One such project is with FinFund, a Finnish impact investor that will help translate 40 million euro in EU guarantees into investments worth 800 million euros. They will de-risk private sector investments that will support faster internet in rural and poorly connected areas, better local internet connections and new data centers. It will also support renewable energy, stronger electricity grids, better electricity, and energy storage systems. This is yet another example how expanding trading routes can serve everyone along the way.
It is really extraordinary that in a world becoming more conflictual, we are together moving in the opposite direction, meaning coming together. We are building trust and we are building opportunities that will serve each of us to diversify our trade routes and strengthen our independence.
[00:10:41] We have deemed that the JENPкoв’s strategy is for the community, the infrastructure and we are for the energy transition, and we are also seeing whole and in together lots of agricultural development. Now you will lose 15 minutes waiting or 10 minutes waiting for technology to work. This is the best part of this kind of meetings. I was having a really nice conversation with the Minister of Transport of Turkey, And we have been discussing, not trading routes, we have been discussing what kind of coffee do I make at home, because I make, and my mother taught me the Turkish coffee, and I was explaining my technology of making coffee, and the minister said that it is exactly how they do this in Turkey. But you also told me, dear Mr. Minister, that you say in Turkey that once you have Turkish coffee with somebody, the friendship with this person will last for 40 years.
So I take your invitation when I will visit Ankara at the end of this month to have this coffee with you. We all need this kind of Turkish coffee or any other coffee or any other drink to connect us. [00:11:45] Indeed, we can speak about trade. We can speak about digital connection. We can speak about how we need the highways. (.) But without the most important part, and this is people-to-people relations, we will not be able to do this. And that’s why it means so much to me to see all of you. Of course I know that business has its own interest. What? Earning the money. Of course I know that international financial institutions need our money to de-risk and so on. And we have some. But without coming together, you know, it makes no sense. There are so many initiatives, so many projects in different countries, in different regions. It makes no sense if we don’t connect. (.) And this is why this connectivity platform is so really, really important. If we do it clever, and this is the goal of this, we can really, really achieve a lot. (.) And I’m sure that this spirit will accompany us during the whole day.
[00:12:50] We will have the right forum to build on this together in the years ahead. And I’m really looking to an excellent cooperation. This is the first step. But many of the others will come. I can’t promise that I will come to every opening ceremony of different projects. But I will come to as much as possible. Because, you know, growing up in the area where we have been cut off from the rest of the world, in my previous country, I can tell you what it means to have connections to the world. What it means to learn different nations. What it means to go outside of your country and see how the others are doing and learning from this. And this is also what we want to do in the European Commission. We want to learn from all of you. We want to bring in our expertise and our money. But please, only together we can achieve something which will stay. [00:13:52] Forever. So let us do the best today to achieve these important goals. Thank you.
