It is intended to be a response to China’s “New Silk Road”: the European Union, the United States, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates agreed to a massive joint infrastructure project during the G20 summit.
There is a huge infrastructure project to better connect America, Europe, Middle East and India.
United States, India, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the European Union have agreed on a memorandum of understanding for a joint rail and shipping project, US President Joe Biden said during the G20 summit in New Delhi.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke of the most direct connection to date between India, the Persian Gulf and Europe.
“Speed up business by 40 percent”
EU Commission President Ursula van der Leyen called the deal “historic”. He spoke of more direct connectivity between India, the Persian Gulf and Europe. Rail link between India and Europe will accelerate trade by 40 percent.
US President Joe Biden also spoke of a “historic economic trajectory”. The plan is intended to spur development in several key areas of the world, said Biden adviser Jake Sullivan. Coordination should be improved across the entire Middle East – including “some unlikely partners” in the region.
The plan is to build a “sustainable, high-quality infrastructure” that closes the global gap and enables greater prosperity and better connectivity to key regions around the world. According to the White House, the project represents a great opportunity for the Middle East to play a key role in global trade, digital communications and energy.
Data expansion and Energy infrastructure
Part of the project includes expansion of power grids, power projects and high-speed data cables. Clean energy trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe is also to be strengthened through power cables and a pipeline for clean hydrogen.
According to US reports, pipelines from Israel will, among other things, deliver clean hydrogen to Europe. “It’s significant that Israel is part of this vision,” Sullivan said. But he stressed that this was not a precursor to normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Competition for China’s “New Silk Road”.
The project is to be funded, inter alia, by the EU Global Gateway initiative. It is expected to invest up to 300 billion euros in infrastructure in emerging and developing countries over the next few years. The initiative competes with China’s “New Silk Road” infrastructure initiative, which the People’s Republic has been operating in several countries for years.
The project just announced is also seen as a response to China’s “New Silk Road”. News website “Axios” reported that it was an attempt by Washington to limit China’s influence in the Middle East.
With the “New Silk Road”, China supports infrastructure projects around the world and wants to open new trade routes to Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. It has many agreements with almost all Arab countries.
