Connectivity

The European Council president, Charles Michel, has began a regional tour of the South Caucasus aimed at re-enforcing the EU's relations with the region. On Saturday, Michel arrived in Armenia where he had a meeting with prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and afterwards addressed a press conference. Michel told journalists that the EU has the ambition to have a loyal, engaged and active relationship with the region that would contribute for its stability, prosperity and security.

Speaking at the start of one of the largest international events to take place in the Uzbek capital for decades, the president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, spoke of the need for the revival of mutual ties in Central and South Asia, where about two billion people live today. Regional and world leaders are attending the International Conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Interconnectedness. Challenges and Opportunities”, including high level officials from the EU and the US, the President of Afghanistan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the foreign ministers of the Central and South Asian countries, and delegations from 44 countries and about 30 international organisations.

Egypt's capital, Cairo, is home to hundreds of bridges and bridge extensions scattered all over the metropolis. For long, under bridges were a place for the homeless, renegades and illicit activities but the scene is rapidly changing now as underbridges turn into cafes and social corners. 

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced the launch of the country’s National Transport and Logistics Strategy. The comprehensive programme serves to make the Kingdom a global logistics hub connecting Africa, Asia and Europe, and improve all transport services as part of Saudi Vision 2030.

The eighth High-Level Political and Security Dialogue between the European Union and the countries of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - took place on Thursday (1 July) in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, with the participation of Afghanistan as special guest. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss regional dynamics and advance region-to-region cooperation on a broad spectrum of issues, including border management, security and the promotion of sustainable connectivity.

TRACECA seeks a closer co-operation with the European Union as it pursues its plans and activities to promote connectivity Europe-Caucasus-Asia in areas related to transport. This was stated by the Secretary-General of the TRACECA Inter-Governmental Commission, Asset Assavbayev, who this week was on a visit to Brussels  for discussions with EU officials. TRACECA brings together thirteen countries that form a transport corridor stretching from the heart of Europe to the borders of China.

Egypt will implement a comprehensive plan in which its ports will be upgraded. The country plans to become a logistics hub in the MENA region with the aim of promoting its position in international trade. The new plan, expected to be completed by 2024, involves 58 projects for upgrading Egyptian ports at an estimated cost of  63 billion Egyptian pounds (around 4 billion US dollars).

With the geopolitical focus shifting towards the Indo-Pacific region and China's growing assertiveness, Indo-European relations become increasingly important. In this op-ed for commonspace.eu, Alex Petrosyan looks at how the EU and India are taking their co-operation to a higher level with the Connectivity Partnership launched in May, and why even closer relations are necessary.