The Governments of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the European Union, the Republic of India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Italian Republic, and the United States of America commit has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together to establish the India - Middle East - Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

The IMEC is expected to stimulate economic development through enhanced connectivity and economic integration between Asia, the Arabian Gulf, and Europe.

In his remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the importance of physical, digital and financial connectivity. He said that IMEC would help promote economic integration between India and Europe.

The IMEC will comprise two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Arabian Gulf and the northern corridor connecting the Arabian Gulf to Europe. It will include a railway that, upon completion, will provide a reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship-to-rail transit network to supplement existing maritime and road transport routes – enabling goods and services to transit to, from, and between India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe.

Along the railway route, Participants intend to enable the laying of cable for electricity and digital connectivity, as well as pipe for clean hydrogen export. This corridor will secure regional supply chains, increase trade accessibility, improve trade facilitation, and support an increased emphasis on environmental, social, and government impacts.

Participants intend that the corridor will increase efficiencies, reduce costs, enhance economic unity, generate jobs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions - resulting in a transformative integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In support of this initiative, Participants commit to work collectively and expeditiously to arrange and implement all elements of these new transit routes, and to establish coordinating entities to address the full range of technical, design, financing, legal and relevant regulatory standards.

The participant countries intend to meet within the next sixty days to develop and commit to an action plan with relevant timetables.