At the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Olivér Várhelyi and European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer yesterday formalised a financial package by which the European Commission will provide a grant of €16 million, through EIB Global, to improve road safety along Georgia’s East-West highway. 

The project will include activities improving physical safety of the roads, provide engineering services and awareness-raising actions. The measures aim to contribute to a decrease in the number and severity of road accidents. Moreover, enhanced safety on Georgia’s extended Trans-European Network – Transport (TEN-T), which connects the country to Europe as well as on certain local transport axes, will strengthen the country’s trade links and economic growth.

The project also contributes significantly to improving transport connectivity along the trans-Caspian corridor linking Central Asia to Europe across the South Caucasus.

“In the Eastern Partnership region, our connectivity agenda is implemented through our Economic and Investment Plan. Improving connectivity is a central feature of that Plan,” said Commissioner Várhelyi. “With this new investment in Georgia’s East-West highway, we are improving Georgia’s connectivity to Europe as well as its road safety, travel conditions and ultimately we are reducing travel times for all Georgians. The East-West Highway also opens up new economic and trade opportunities for Georgia as it reinforces Georgia’s role as a trade hub along the trans-Caspian corridor”.

The Global Gateway Forum on 25-26 October brings together for the first time an assembly of government representatives from the European Union and across the globe, alongside key stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, thought leaders, financial institutions, and international organisations to promote global investment in transformative infrastructure – hard and soft- to deliver on SDGs.

Global Gateway is the EU’s positive offer to reduce the worldwide investment gap and boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems. The Global Gateway strategy embodies a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States, and European development finance institutions. Together, it aims to mobilise up to €300 billion in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027. 

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