Thursday 17 March 2022

UK signs £1.7bn clean transport deal with Turkey

The UK has signed a £1.7 billion clean transport deal with Turkey to build an electric railway line to decarbonise Turkish travel.

UK Export Finance (UKEF) will guarantee the £1.7 billion loan to construct the 503km railway.

This is the first time in more than 160 years that a UK-supported rail transaction has happened in Turkey and it will connect the capital of Ankara to port city Izmir.

With fully electric high speed rail in place, it will mark a huge step in Turkey achieving its climate goals made at COP26.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, International Trade Secretary, said: “It is fitting that UKEF’s biggest ever civil infrastructure deal is strongly sustainable. This is a proud moment for the UK railway industry, using its industrial roots to reduce emissions in heavily polluted cities.”

Turkish Finance Minister, Nureddin Nebati, said: “We have given utmost importance to the environmental and social procedures during this project and as the Ministry of Treasury and Finance we are closely following the improvements of such issues.

“We also desire to be among the active and important players of the rapidly growing green finance market.

“We are very glad for the cooperation and strong longstanding relations with UK government and we hope to further strengthen our collaboration.”