ADB prepares $3.7B project pipeline for Middle Corridor by 2030

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has completed the formulation of a strategic approach to the development of CAREC Corridor 2 (which largely coincides with the Middle Corridor route), with an investment project portfolio estimated at $3.7 billion for the 2025-2030 period, Lyaziza Sabyrova, the head of regional cooperation and integration team in the Central and West Asia Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on social media, Report informs.

"Since 2022, our efforts have helped mobilize more than $12 billion in regional investments, and ADB, as CAREC Secretariat, mobilized $26 million in TA resources to support CAREC projects and initiatives. We reached a major milestone in regional energy cooperation through the Caspian Green Energy Corridor Project, supported by ADB and AIIB, and finalized the development approach for CAREC Corridor 2 (largely coinciding with the Middle Corridor) with a $3.7 billion project pipeline for 2025–2030," she said.

Sabyrova said the ADB also established and launched the CAREC Climate and Sustainability Project Preparatory Fund (CSPPF) with support from China and the Republic of Korea; developed and is now implementing the CAREC Climate Change Action Plan, and fine-tuned the CAREC Transport, Trade, and Digital Strategies to respond to an evolving global context.

"These efforts led to important initiatives such as CARTIF, the BUILD Facility, the establishment of a new Smart Mobility Working Group, and the next stage of the CAREC Digital Corridor-alongside progress in trade policy, trade facilitation, green skills, disaster risk financing, and many more. Under the dedicated chairmanships of the PRC, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic, we also successfully held Ministerial Conferences, SOMs, and numerous Working Group meetings.

Most importantly, all this was achieved in the spirit of strong partnership, trust, and camaraderie-despite differing interests at times, and an increasingly complex global environment. The NFPs' continued engagement has kept CAREC focused, adaptive, and results-oriented.

I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to my whole CWRC/CAREC Secretariat team, to our ADB's CAREC sector and thematic focal points and their Directors, to CAREC Country Directors and their teams, and to ADB and CWRD Management – without all of them, none of the above progress would have been possible.

While I move into a new position, I am confident that the strong foundations we have built together will continue to deliver impactful results. I look forward to staying connected and exploring opportunities for continued collaboration," she said.