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Weekly Lists
March 2, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 28
bne:
Infrastructure
Work launched on Afghan section of TAPI pipeline
The leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan gathered on February 23 to mark the launch of construction works on the Afghan segment of the $10bn Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Paki- stan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline. The ceremony presented the 1,814-kilometre (1,144-mile) pipeline pipeline as heralding an extensive corridor of road, rail, and communications infrastructure networks that could eventually connect the Central and South Asian countries.
The Afghan section of the pipeline is seen as the riskiest segment of the project due to the presence of extremist groups in the con- flict-torn country and its success or otherwise will determine the fate of the whole TAPI route. In a surprise statement on February 23, the Taliban pledged its cooperation and protection for the pro- ject, noting the pipeline’s importance to building up Afghanistan's economic infrastructure. "There will be no delay in this important national project," the Taliban said.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on February 26 it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bosnia & Herzegovina’s two autonomous entities – the Muslim-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska – to invest
more than €700mn in the country’s road infrastructure by 2020.
The poor former Yugoslav country needs significant investment in infrastructure to get closer towards membership in the European Union.
The sum will be invested in seven projects across the country, all related to the construction of EU-defined Corridor Vc, which runs from the Hungarian capital Budapest through Croatia and Bosnia and ends again in Croatia, at the Adriatic town and major seaport of Ploce. The length of the Bosnian part of the corridor is 330km.
EBRD to invest more than €700mn in Bosnia’s road network