DEVELOPMENT NEWS
A strategic rail corridor in Türkiye
T he OPEC Fund is committing €150 million to support the development of a high- standard electrified railway in eastern Türkiye. The Kars-Iğdır-Aralık-Dilucu Railway Project will enhance transport connectivity, reduce travel time and increase cross-border trade linking Europe and Asia. The project involves the construction of a 224 km electrified railway
as well as the construction of stations, tunnels, viaducts and bridges. It will improve freight and passenger logistics, strengthen regional economic integration and provide a vital trade link. The new railway link will strengthen Turkey's role as a regional and transcontinental transit hub.
H onduras has one of the lowest per capita incomes in Latin America due to limited economic opportunities and significant disparities. A new US$80 million loan from the OPEC Fund will support the development of vulnerable and underserved communities. The loan Supporting women’s empowerment and social inclusion in Honduras
joins CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean – in supporting a program structured around three main pillars: Empowerment of women, inclusion of individuals with disabilities and promotion of indigenous and Afro-Honduran communities. The program supports a series of new policies, regulatory reforms and institutional changes that aim to reduce inequalities among the targeted groups. A newly established Secretariat for Women will govern gender equality policies, the provision of financial support and self-employment to Hondurans with disabilities and the improvement of living conditions for the 60 percent of the ethnic population that lives in informal, low-income neighborhoods.
The OPEC Fund loan to Honduras of US$80 million supports the empowerment of women, those with
disabilities and Afro-Honduran communities.
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