(WASHINGTON, USA) – The United States government has committed $201 million to launch the Trans-Caspian Entrepreneurship Fund, a vehicle designed to draw private sector investment into infrastructure along a trade corridor running through the South Caucasus and Central Asia. The announcement was made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement published by the State Department. The fund will operate under a newly appointed board of directors and targets the Trans-Caspian trade route, also known as the Middle Corridor.
Mr Rubio said the launch comes exactly one year after Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint declaration with former President Donald Trump on a peaceful settlement between Baku and Yerevan. That declaration also covered the creation of a 43 kilometre transport corridor across southern Armenia, connecting mainland Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan. The project has been named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP. It involves modernising railway, motorway, energy and digital infrastructure.
The Secretary of State said the United States has worked jointly with Armenia and Azerbaijan over the past 12 months to turn that promise into reality, and significant progress has been made. Engineering work for laying railway track in Armenia has already started. Azerbaijan has almost completed construction of a motorway and railway line that will connect it to Armenia.
Mr Rubio said the progress reflects a simple truth, that peace and prosperity reinforce each other. He described TRIPP as more than an infrastructure project, calling it a vital link in the Trans-Caspian trade route and a model for how economic cooperation can strengthen peace after long standing disputes are settled. He added that the United States remains fully committed to working with both countries and expects further progress towards a durable and lasting peace in the South Caucasus.
The $201 million fund allocation is equivalent to roughly £161 million or €185 million. The Middle Corridor is a network of rail, road and sea links stretching from China through Central Asia and the Caspian Sea to the South Caucasus and onward to Turkey and Europe. It has gained strategic importance as businesses seek reliable alternatives to routes passing through Russia.
The World Bank estimates that investments of around $20 billion, or £16 billion and €18.4 billion, are needed to bring the corridor’s infrastructure up to the required standard. Separately, Ukraine’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Yuriy Husiev, has said Russian influence in the South Caucasus is declining rapidly, with Azerbaijan increasingly pursuing an independent foreign policy and developing cooperation with Western partners.