The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, one of the most ambitious trade infrastructure projects announced in recent years, is getting a potential makeover. And Israel isn’t going to like it.
Saudi Arabia is actively exploring plans to reroute the IMEC corridor through Syria and Jordan, connecting to Turkey’s Mediterranean ports, effectively bypassing Israel entirely. The original northern corridor was designed to run overland rail from the UAE and Saudi Arabia through Jordan to Israel’s Haifa port. That plan, it seems, is collecting dust.
From G20 fanfare to geopolitical chess
IMEC launched with considerable pomp via a Memorandum of Understanding signed on September 9, 2023, at the G20 summit in New Delhi. The signatory list read like a who’s who of global economic heavyweights: India, the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, and the EU.
The corridor promised roughly 40% faster transit times and around 30% lower costs compared to the traditional Suez Canal route.
