BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 19. Financing per se
isn't the primary challenge for developing the Middle Corridor, but
well-designed investment projects are essential to attracting
greater investment, Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer
of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance
(MCDF), Ayumi Konishi, said at the 14th Islamic Development Bank
Group Private Sector Forum, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.


"Over the past five and a half years, MCDF has organized 43
events attended by over 8,500 people from over 100 countries to
disseminate knowledge on investing in transport connectivity
infrastructure. The MCDF financial mechanism is a trust fund aimed
at supporting project preparation and capacity building in
infrastructure connectivity. Over five years, the fund has provided
67 grants totaling $86.2 million. These funds are expected to
facilitate the attraction of $14.3 billion in infrastructure
investment," he said.


Konishi emphasized that the MCDF does not work directly with
beneficiary countries, but through partner international financial
institutions, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB), the Islamic Development Bank, the African Development Bank,
the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and several
other organizations.


Speaking about projects in the region, Konishi reported that a
$1.05 million grant was allocated to Azerbaijan for a feasibility
study for the Caspian Green Energy Corridor project.







"Together with the Asian Development Bank's contribution, this
constitutes a two-million-dollar feasibility study. At the end of
June, the Darbaza-Maktaaral land railway project in Kazakhstan,
which connects Kazakhstan with Uzbekistan and further across the
Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan to Europe, was also approved. MCDF is
additionally funding environmental and social studies, as well as
legal support for the project. The key message is that financing is
not a problem. The main shortcoming, particularly in mobilizing
more resources for the Middle Corridor, is the lack of project
proposals prepared for financing," said Konishi.


He added that there are many promising ideas, but investors will
only be able to assess their potential once full project proposals
are prepared.


"We are ready to assist countries and our partner institutions
in developing the Middle Corridor," Konishi concluded.