TRIA | Transatlantic Efforts to Close the Investment Gap in Middle- and Low-income Countries (2nd Operational Meeting)

The 2nd operational meeting of the Transatlantic Resilient Infrastructure Alliance (TRIA) was held in Seville, Spain on July 1st, 2025. It took place in the context of the International Business Forum at the UN’s 4th Financing for Development Conference. TRIA is a joint initiative between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European American Chamber of Commerce New York (EACCNY), that aims to unite key actors to support the financing of infrastructure investments in low- and middle-income countries.

With only six years left to deliver on the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the investment gap across all Sustainable Development Goals has increased from USD 2.5 trillion in 2015 to more than 4 trillion today. The increase is the result of both under-investment and additional needs, with the largest gaps in energy, water, and transport infrastructure.

This growing investment gap affects developing countries, especially structurally weak and vulnerable economies where foreign direct investment (FDI) flows have been declining over the last years. The 46 least developed countries (LDCs) received USD 22 billion – less than 2 per cent of total global FDI in 2022. Emerging economies’ bond markets have seen historical outflows since 2022. 2023 has been dubbed the “year of inequalities” by the World Bank.

Private investment is the key.
Bringing in international investors in alignment with public actors and multilateral financial institutions significantly reduces the cost of capital for recipient countries. It also offers international investors the ability to diversify their portfolios and strengthen their ESG standing (environmental, social, governance).

Private sector dynamism slowed in the wake of the 2008 world financial and economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent economic, geopolitical and energy crises. Revitalizing private sector development that is fully aligned with sustainable development was the core task of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, Spain this year.

The objective of the 2nd Operational Meeting of the Alliance was to discuss ways to revitalize Transatlantic private sector development in developing countries in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the priorities of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development.

The event was an opportunity for TRIA members to discuss the following questions:

• the main barriers for private investment flows to low- and middle-income countries, and how can they be overcome?
• the risks private investors consider as the most acute in emerging economies and what measures could be used to mitigate them?
• which public or private innovative solutions (incl. those by the European Union & US Government) are the most effective at de-risking sustainable investments and mobilizing private capital?
• What measures could be implemented to help low- and middle-income and developing countries to develop pipelines of sustainable investment projects?
  

This was the 2nd official meeting for the TRIA members and the next steps are to fine-tune our project pipeline to collaborate on.