American-backed Trans‑Caspian Enterprise Fund Begins Operations to Link Armenia and Azerbaijan

A U.S.‑financed Trans‑Caspian Enterprise Fund has officially started its work, bringing $201 million of public money to the table to encourage private investors to develop the Middle Corridor. The corridor is envisioned as a multimodal network that will combine rail, road, energy transmission and digital infrastructure, effectively stitching together Armenia and Azerbaijan and integrating the route into a broader Caspian trade axis.

According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the fund’s board has been sworn in and will prioritize projects that have already cleared preliminary engineering phases. In Armenia, railway surveys are underway, while in Azerbaijan a near‑complete road‑rail link is set to connect with the Armenian side. The United States frames the venture as a peace‑building tool, arguing that stronger economic interdependence can cement the cease‑fire agreement signed a year ago in Washington.