BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22. Central Asia is an
example of how private investment can be attracted while reducing
pressure on public budgets through investment in foundational
infrastructure, Director for Environment at the World Bank Group,
Valerie Hickey, said at the Regional Ecological Summit 2026 in
Astana, Trend
reports.
“Central Asia has shown the way in doing the things that attract
private sector investment and reduce stress on the public purse,
namely investing in foundational infrastructure, particularly
energy and water, but also investing in regulating business
opportunities in providing the type of predictable enabling
environment that attracts such business opportunities’’, she
said.
Hickey added that the World Bank Group invested $1 billion in
REMIT (the Regional Energy Market Interconnectivity and Trade
Program), which forms the basis of ensuring a shared regional power
market that will bring down the price of energy and increase
opportunity for small businesses, for big businesses, for every
community-led organization.
She noted that cooperation also covers the coordination of
technical assistance.
“We're very proud to work together with the United Kingdom, the
government of Switzerland, and the European Commission on the
Central Asia Water and Energy Program, specifically to make sure we
are coordinating our advice, our technical assistance, and our
investment in this most important of resources in Central Asia,”
she added.
