BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22. Central Asia is an example of how private investment can be attracted while reducing pressure on public budgets through investment in foundational infrastructure, Director for Environment at the World Bank Group, Valerie Hickey, said at the Regional Ecological Summit 2026 in Astana, Trend reports.
“Central Asia has shown the way in doing the things that attract private sector investment and reduce stress on the public purse, namely investing in foundational infrastructure, particularly energy and water, but also investing in regulating business opportunities in providing the type of predictable enabling environment that attracts such business opportunities’’, she said.
Hickey added that the World Bank Group invested $1 billion in REMIT (the Regional Energy Market Interconnectivity and Trade Program), which forms the basis of ensuring a shared regional power market that will bring down the price of energy and increase opportunity for small businesses, for big businesses, for every community-led organization.
She noted that cooperation also covers the coordination of technical assistance.
“We're very proud to work together with the United Kingdom, the government of Switzerland, and the European Commission on the Central Asia Water and Energy Program, specifically to make sure we are coordinating our advice, our technical assistance, and our investment in this most important of resources in Central Asia,” she added.