On Monday 27 May 2024, Dr Marat Terterov, Principal Representative of the Brussels Energy Club (BREC), moderated a panel debate at a high-level conference entitled ‘The Middle Corridor Initiative – Where Europe and Asia Meet’. The event was organised by the European Institute of Asian Studies (EIAS), a long-established BREC partner organisation.
The panel moderated by Dr Terterov was comprised of senior officials from the Export and Investment Promotion Agency of Azerbaijan, the European Commission and the United Nations Representation in Brussels. Around 100 participants attended the conference, including EU officials, senior diplomats, energy experts, and NGOs.
Some of the messages emphasised by Dr Terterov during his moderation of the panel and subsequent interventions included the following:
• The Middle Corridor is not an entirely new concept – it has its roots in the east-west trade links and transport connectivity projects which started to emerge after the end of the Cold War.
• Interest in the concept has expanded significantly following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the realignment of emerging trade and investment patterns since that time.
• The countries along the Corridor (Caspian and Central Asian states) are developing rapidly and stand much to gain economically from expanding trade and investment in the region.
• While the countries along the corridor are in their own way ‘booming’ economically, their main challenge now is how to lift the volumes of trade and investment in the region even further, and to make investment-driven growth more sustainable.
• The EU should develop a clearer strategy of how it can prioritize its involvement in the region, predominantly by backing specific projects along the Corridor, rather than promoting large-scale mega-slogan initiatives.
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