ASTANA – As a great start of the new chapter of cooperation, the European Union (EU) has launched a package of 12 billion euros (US$13.2 billion) for Central Asian region under its Global Gateway investment program, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced at the press statement following the historic Central Asia-EU Summit on April 4 in Samarkand.
Ursula von der Leyen during the press statement after the Central Asia-EU Summit. Photo credit: Ursula von der Leyen/X
This package has four priorities. With the aim to bring the regions closer, the EU prioritized the flagship project – the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, where it invested 10 billion euros (US$11 billion).
The second element is climate, energy, and water. The EU is building dams to support the region’s water and energy security, and is also creating a new green belt in the Aral Sea basin “for the desert to bloom with life again.”
The third priority is digital. The EU partners with Central Asia to bring the Internet to the most remote areas, schools, and hospitals of the region via its satellites.
“This year alone, we are connecting 2,000 schools and hundreds of villages in Kazakhstan to European satellites. Then we are extending to 1,700 villages across the region in the coming years,” von der Leyen said.
The fourth element is critical raw materials, which is needed to power the clean transition and the clean economy of tomorrow. The EU has already signed Memoranda of Understanding on critical minerals with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and brought this cooperation to a new level by endorsing a Joint Declaration of Intent on Critical Raw Materials.
“Central Asia has a significant share of global reserves, and Europe wants to give a fair offer, a special offer. As partners, we want to build local value chains for the critical minerals. This means that the value created here in the region stays in the region, and it creates good jobs. Because we think when our partners grow, also Europe grows,” von der Leyen concluded.
