Sunday, October 6, 2024
HomeWorldMacron Names Former Engie Chief as Envoy for Future Asia-EU Corridor

Macron Names Former Engie Chief as Envoy for Future Asia-EU Corridor

[ad_1]

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron named the former head of gas utility Engie as its special envoy to a multinational rail and ports project linking the Middle East and South Asia tipped as an alternative to China’s Best and Road initiative.

By naming Gerard Mestrallet, a well-connected veteran of the energy industry, Macron wants “France to become a key player in this project” and ensure French companies are best-positioned in the early phases of the project, his office said on Monday.

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was launched on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September last year and is part of Washington and Brussels’s plan to counter China’s flagship global infrastructure project.

War in Israel and Gaza

TOPSHOT - A Palestinian woman cries as she inspects a heavily damaged apartment following Israeli bombardment on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2024, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas enters its fifth month. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

It aims to link Middle East countries by railway and connect them to India by port, helping the flow of energy and trade from the Gulf to Europe, U.S. and European officials have said, by cutting shipping times, costs and fuel use.

A memorandum of understanding on IMEC was signed by the European Union, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. and other G20 partners.

Photos You Should See

A member of the National Ballet of Ukraine looks at her phone as she prepares for a performance of "Nadiya Ukraine" (Hope for Ukraine) on opening night in Vancouver, on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Twenty-three dancers are on a Canadian tour highlighting Ukrainian culture through traditional dance while also supporting the war effort by collecting donations from the audience for Ukraine First Lady Olena Zelenska's Foundation and Humanite. (Darryl Dyck /The Canadian Press via AP)

IMEC is envisioned to consist of two separate corridors with an east corridor connecting India to the Gulf, and a northern corridor connecting the Gulf with Europe, according to the MOU.

Along the railway route, participants intend to lay cable for power and data lines, as well as a pipeline for hydrogen derived from renewable energy for use in power generation.

(Reporting by Michel Rose, Editing by William Maclean)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.

[ad_2]

Source link

RELATED ARTICLES

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisment -

Most Popular

Recent Comments