The EU supports the expansion of railway connections with Central Asia

Germany is considering EU financing to enhance railway connections with Central Asia, as reported by the railway portal Railway Supply.

Germany and Central Asian countries are working to strengthen their trade cooperation and potentially increase railway connectivity.

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A few days ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with the leaders of five Central Asian countries to discuss financing for infrastructure projects and other forms of collaboration.

One of the focal points of Scholz’s meeting with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan was the funding of infrastructure projects in the Central Corridor as part of the Global Gateway initiative.

It was agreed that the parties would seek investments from the European International Financing Instrument and use them to improve connectivity between Central Asia and Central Europe.

The specific projects in question are not yet known.

International institutions like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have found that connections between the two regions are possible with the necessary investments, some of which have been partly or fully identified.

However, the fact that the EU Global Gateway initiative was widely mentioned during the negotiations may indicate Germany’s determination to channel EU funds into the region, especially considering that the country is in the process of diversifying its supply chains, with the markets of Central Asia playing a central role in this effort.

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Therefore, it’s not surprising that during the high-level meeting, Germany and Kazakhstan expanded their cooperation.

In particular, DB Engineering & Consulting, a subsidiary of DB, will continue to collaborate closely with Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) and provide consulting services for the next three years.

The partnership aims to identify best practices for increasing rail freight transport between Germany and Kazakhstan, increasing rail transport volumes, and integrating KTZ into European rail standards.

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