EU Supports Creation of Central Asia Transport Corridors Independent of Russia - Borrell

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - The European Union is looking to expand cooperation with Central Asian countries, including in what concerns energy supplies and building transport corridors that do not depend on Russia, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

Borrell participated in the EU-Central Asia Connectivity Conference: Global Gateway that took place in the Uzbek city of Samarkand from November 17-18 to discuss regional partnerships and different measures to enhance cooperation between the European Union and Central Asia set out in the 2019 EU Strategy on Central Asia.

"It is clear that Russia but also China have played a major role in the region and continue to do so. Equally, it is obvious that the region is looking to diversify its relationships and that they see the EU as a partner of choice," Borrell wrote in his Sunday blog post following the visit.

He pointed out that Central Asian countries are undertaking various reform programs and relations in the region are improving.

"As EU, we have a clear interest to seize on these changes. We must deepen our ties with the region and tap into the vast potential it has to offer, in terms of energy supplies, critical raw materials and new transport corridors that do not depend on Russia (to so-called Middle Corridor or Trans Caspian Corridor)," Borrell wrote.

He emphasized that the European Union is a major trade and investment partner in Central Asia and has invested over $103 billion in the region in the past ten years.

On Thursday, the European External Action Service said that the EU had launched a new Sustainable Energy Connectivity in Central Asia (SECCA) project worth $7 million aimed at enhancing energy efficiency and promoting renewable energy in the region.

The project will be funded by the EU through 2022-2026 and complement already existing EU initiatives in the area of sustainable energy and climate change in the region and the bloc's 20 bilateral cooperation projects with countries of Central Asia. The SECCA project will be guided by the EU strategy on Central Asia adopted in 2019.