Turkey lines up financing for Amanos Tunnel project: Turkey has reportedly secured EUR 1.55 bn (USD 1.8 bn) in financing from a Société Génerale-led consortium for the Dörtyol-Hassa Highway and Railway project in the country Southeastern Anatolia region, Turkish outlet Anadolu Agency reports. Three tunnels, about 19 km long each, will be built under the project — one for a rail line and two for a highway.

The rationale: The tunnels are set to cut costs and freight shipping times by providing a shorter route passing through the Amanos mountains to connect Iskenderun Port on the Mediterranean to industrial areas around Gaziantep in the southeastern part of the country.

Who else is involved? Financial backers for the project include the Swedish Export CreditCorporation, the Islamic Corporation for the Ins. of Investment and Export Credit, and other undisclosed commercial banks, Daily Sabah reports.

Turkish rail projects have been getting a lot of interest from international backers, with the country securing EUR 2.4 bn (USD 2.8 bn) in green financing from a consortium led by Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group to build a rail link to Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave, Reuters reported last month. The consortium included Sweden’s EKN and Austria’s export credit agency Oesterreichische Kontrollbank.

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