A USD1.659 million grant to support a new logistics park that aims to sustainably enhance connectivity and trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region has been approved by the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) Governing Committee during its meeting in Beijing on 26 March. The project will be implemented by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The MCDF grant will fund preparatory work for a smart and green sea-rail logistics park in Qinzhou, China that would link the country’s southwest with both the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone and ASEAN region. The logistics park would boost cargo handling efficiency, value-adding manufacturing, e-commerce, and wider trade, and Qinzhou’s growth as a logistics center and sustainable development.

The multimodal logistics park project will support Beibu Gulf Port in China’s Guangxi province, which has 76 total routes, including 48 international routes and 35 that connect with ASEAN countries. It seeks to optimize logistics park capacity and efficiency vital to boosting connectivity and trade flows.

Specifically, the MCDF grant will help to ensure the China-ASEAN multimodal logistics park project is aligned with standards required for AIIB financing and high-quality, both in terms of its physical infrastructure development and operational, economic, environmental, and social sustainability.

This includes strengthening demand and economic analysis in areas such as freight transport to better gauge the logistics park’s impact on development and cross-border connectivity; elaborating the decarbonization and climate risk assessment to reduce its carbon footprint and increase resilience; and guiding the planning and engineering to realize a green and smart logistics park design.

“This MCDF grant is poised to significantly advance the quality of the preparation for the China-ASEAN Sea-Rail Multimodal Logistics Project,” said Wenjing Pu, an AIIB Investment Operations Specialist.

The quality improvements would be impactful in myriad ways, he added, “particularly in critical areas such as demand and economic analysis, climate mitigation and adaptation, and the planning and design of green and smart logistics parks.”

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