A USD157,000 grant for a study aimed at building the capacity of Central Asian countries and partners to originate sustainable cross-border connectivity (CBC) infrastructure projects was approved by the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) Governing Committee during its meeting in Budapest, Hungary on 14 December.

The MCDF funded study will examine key challenges, growth opportunities, and coordination prospects in the region’s energy, transport, and telecommunications sectors.

It will be accompanied by Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) funded work to identify implementation-ready CBC projects and an Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) funded dialogue channel for Central Asian countries and project partners.

The MCDF funded study will highlight entry points for potential AIIB CBC investment in target connectivity sectors in Central Asia and promote regional connectivity project pipeline discussions.