The India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) has the potential to emerge as a successful alternative to existing transcontinental trade routes, supporting connectivity and economic integration. Spanning the Indian subcontinent, Western Asia, the Mediterranean and Europe, IMEC brings together a diverse group of countries, each of which plays a complementary role in the corridor. Gulf countries are major logistics, energy and transshipment hubs, while European economies, as well as India, provide access not only to advanced transport networks and integrated supply chains, but also to large consumer markets and broader trade and investment opportunities. Israel and Jordan, cited in the 2023 IMEC MoU, are strategically positioned to link maritime and land transport systems. The development of IMEC will depend not only on enhancing physical connectivity by addressing missing rail links and enhancing port capacities, but also on building effective governance and trade facilitation frameworks that enable sustained collaboration among participating countries and lower barriers to cross-border co-operation.
Measuring Connectivity along the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor analyses connectivity along IMEC using an indicator-based methodology drawing on internationally comparable data. This approach enables both the benchmarking of IMEC countries and an assessment of corridor-wide opportunities and constraints. The report includes an analysis of the corridor using the OECD Corridors’ Connectivity Scoreboard, followed by dedicated chapters on transport infrastructure and trade facilitation. It also develops new indicators to measure the digital and green energy connectivity of IMEC (see Annex), which complement the Scoreboard and address the multidimensional nature of the corridor. These indicators could be applied to IMEC in a subsequent phase.
IMEC enjoys extensive hard connectivity assets but infrastructure and transport assets along the corridor need to be reinforced, capacities increased and operations improved.
IMEC benefits from substantial transport infrastructure assets but significant connectivity gaps and operational bottlenecks limit the corridor’s full potential. Maritime networks, ports, roads and logistics platforms provide a strong foundation for trade and economic integration across countries. However, significant challenges remain, including uneven infrastructure development, missing cross-border rail links, border management inefficiencies and strategic dependencies on key maritime chokepoints, notably the Straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab. Strengthening physical connectivity will therefore require not only additional infrastructure investment, but also greater attention to resilience, interoperability and operational performance across the corridor.
Maritime transport is one of IMEC’s strongest assets but the sector is exposed to significant strategic vulnerabilities. India, the UAE and Greece are major maritime gateways and transshipment hubs, with the ports of Mundra, Khalifa and Piraeus standing out for their strong connections, large capacity and operational efficiency. However, exposure to maritime chokepoints remains a major risk. Strengthening resilience through the diversification of routes and key gateways should therefore be considered a strategic priority.
Port capacity is generally strong but its uneven distribution creates congestion risks and possible bottlenecks. While several IMEC countries benefit from having many major ports, the Eastern Mediterranean currently lacks the capacity to fully support IMEC's projected trade volumes, especially under the initial linear configuration. Although Israeli ports offer good accessibility, their current spare capacity may represent future constraints under substantially higher transit volumes along the corridor. Greater reliance on additional ports along the Eastern Mediterranean coast – particularly in Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria – as well as on Red Sea ports, notably Aqaba, Eilat and Jeddah, would improve trade capacities and reduce the risks from geopolitical tensions. In India, strong economic and demographic growth is expected to place increasing pressure on existing port infrastructure, particularly along the western coast where some ports are approaching maximum operational capacity. As trade volumes grow, these capacity constraints could create bottlenecks at key nodes along the corridor. Encouragingly, ongoing and planned expansion projects are expected to enhance overall performance. The development of the Port of Vadhavan, for example, is set to complement the capacity of the Port of Mumbai and help accommodate future growth in maritime traffic.
Rail connectivity remains the weakest component of IMEC’s hard infrastructure framework. European countries benefit from dense and highly integrated rail networks that support both domestic transport and cross-border links. India also possesses an extensive rail system and continues to invest in its expansion. By contrast, significant gaps persist across the Middle East. Existing infrastructure is insufficient to support continuous cross-border rail transport, and technical incompatibilities, such as the use of different track gauges in Jordan, remain a major challenge. Jordan represents the most critical missing link, as it is poorly connected by rail to neighbouring countries. While announced projects do not foresee a direct connection of Jordan with Israel, some aim to connect Jordan with the Gulf countries and its northern neighbours.
The development of the rail network across the Arabian Peninsula remains a major priority for IMEC and extending the scope to include Oman and Levantine countries should be considered. Current rail investment plans across the Middle East reflect varying national priorities and starting points, rather than a coordinated corridor vision. Improved connections to logistics hubs, enhanced transshipment facilities, greater port-to-rail capacity and the establishment of continuous, interoperable cross-border rail links are essential to enable IMEC freight movement.
Road transport remains the most practical inland transport solution, as demonstrated following the Strait of Hormuz blockade, until rail connectivity improves in the medium term. Road networks are generally more developed, interconnected and operationally flexible than rail infrastructure. Europe combines high-quality roads with dense network coverage, while India benefits from extensive road density and the Gulf countries perform strongly in terms of road quality.
Transport efficiency is still constrained by uneven logistics performance and operational hurdles. In the Middle East, while the UAE demonstrates consistently strong performance across key logistics dimensions, particularly in infrastructure quality, shipment tracking and timeliness, Jordan experiences border management challenges. Overall, administrative procedures, delays and operational inefficiencies at border crossings represent a major obstacle to efficient transport, more so than infrastructure quality. Improving border operations and enhancing the efficiency, reliability and predictability of logistics services could therefore generate significant gains without requiring major investments.
Sustainability considerations will increasingly shape the future development of IMEC. The environmental footprint of transport differs significantly across countries and transport modes. As infrastructure investments progress, integrating sustainability objectives into transport planning will be critical to ensure that greater connectivity is aligned with long-term energy transition goals.
Regional expansion offers opportunities to increase capacity, resilience and market access. Broader participation from countries such as Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman and Syria could strengthen IMEC’s overall strategic value and operational flexibility and generate more positive externalities. Future analysis should consider the suitability of this expansion against common, evidence-based criteria on countries’ hard and soft connectivity preparedness, their multimodality and their potential for integration with other IMEC countries.
IMEC soft connectivity has strong foundations with regard to national trade facilitation frameworks and digital systems but cross-border co-operation is a major bottleneck, with gaps remaining in some key countries.
Trade facilitation frameworks are generally well established across IMEC but often face implementation challenges and unequal operations. Most countries have introduced the core elements of modern trade facilitation, including customs and trade information portals, digital customs systems and procedures to simplify paperwork. While this provides a strong foundation for corridor-wide connectivity, the effectiveness of these tools varies across countries. As a result, businesses continue to face differing levels of complexity and predictability along the corridor. The priority is therefore to ensure that these tools operate effectively and consistently across all IMEC countries.
The corridor benefits from strong performers but its efficiency will depend on strengthening connectivity across all IMEC countries. France, Germany, Italy and Israel already have advanced trade facilitation systems. India has made major progress, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE have developed strong digital and logistics platforms. Jordan, which plays an important role as a transit country, still faces capacity and implementation gaps. The priority is to use strong performers as anchors for knowledge sharing, pilot projects and practical support, while focusing early attention on countries, procedures or nodes where less advanced systems could impede trade flows across the corridor.
Transparency is broadly in place but traders still need clearer and faster end-to-end solutions. Most IMEC countries publish basic trade information, have trade portals and customs websites, and provide enquiry points and procedural guidance for traders. However, firms need information that is timely, complete and easy to use before goods move. Gaps remain in the speed of enquiry point responses, the advance publication of new rules, and access to information on penalties, appeals, judicial decisions and advance rulings. It is therefore essential to make the information needed by businesses more reliable, user-friendly and comparable across countries.
Digitalisation is advancing rapidly but systems still need to be interconnected. IMEC countries have invested in electronic customs systems, automated processes and digital tools. Saudi Arabia and the UAE perform particularly strongly in customs automation, while European countries and Israel operate mature digital ecosystems and India has made notable advances. Nevertheless, a clear gap persists between domestic efforts and cross-border paperless trade. Bridging this gap and translating national digitalisation initiatives into corridor-wide efficiency gains will require harmonised data fields, interoperable systems, the exchange of digitalised trade-related documents and certificates, electronic payments and stronger IT infrastructure.
Border agency co-operation is the most significant corridor-wide bottleneck and requires improved collaboration among countries. While many IMEC countries have improved domestic co-ordination, co-operation across border agencies remains limited. Countries continue to differ in their data requirements, computer systems and border practices. Therefore, customs, ports, regulators and logistics actors need to work together more closely. Priorities include shared approaches to risk management, sharing of control results, alignment of data and documentary requirements and mutual recognition of trusted trader arrangements. The establishment of an IMEC consultation platform on trade facilitation could be relevant to ease cross-border operations.
The short-term agenda should focus on practical improvements that have an immediate operational impact for traders, while a longer-term agenda should advance the corridor’s integration. In the short to medium term, focus should be on clearer information, faster enquiry points, fewer documents, better use of electronic clearance, improved treatment of perishable goods, and stronger sharing of inspection results. Over the long term, the focus should shift to more structural connections between systems, including linked Single Windows, common data models, collaborative risk tools, interoperable IT systems and compatible trusted trader arrangements across countries.
The green energy and digital dimensions of IMEC warrant further analysis to foster regional interconnections. To that end, the OECD has developed new indicators to complement its Corridors’ Connectivity Scoreboard, with criteria specific to IMEC, although these indicators have not yet been applied and analysed.
Energy connectivity across IMEC primarily focuses on electricity and clean hydrogen, as per the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding. The ambition is to create an integrated and interconnected transregional clean energy network, building on IMEC’s existing strengths: growing electricity demand, existing regional grid integration, renewable energy capacity in the Gulf and India, and a nascent green hydrogen sector with prospects for some IMEC ports. However, constraints remain numerous: poor regional vision and planning, missing cross-border interconnections and dedicated infrastructure, lack of harmonised market rules and, specifically for hydrogen, low demand and production, high production and transport costs and unclear and complex regulations. The indicators cover infrastructure, capacity, interoperability, market regulations and address hydrogen trade challenges.
Digital connectivity is a critical enabler for IMEC, supporting cross-sectoral synergies. It improves transport and trade efficiency and optimises management of cross-border electricity networks. There are opportunities to build on existing IMEC strategic digital nodes, but several challenges constrain the corridor’s digital performance: submarine cable concentration in chokepoints such as the Red Sea, uneven fibre integration between Gulf and European networks, limited presence of Internet Exchange Points and reliability gaps. The indicators focus on four interdependent pillars: access networks, transport and interconnections networks, digital infrastructure and market conditions. Their analysis may be constrained by data gaps, which will require co-ordinated efforts to access and harmonise national regulators’ data and policies.
The report sets the groundwork for further analysis with expanded assessment, tailored policy and technical advice, and a forward-looking agenda for IMEC’s development. Such a continuation would allow enriching data with national sources, updating data to reflect the impact of the latest developments in the evolving conflict in the Middle East, and analysing opportunities for IMEC expansion through expanded geographical coverage and the inclusion of selected countries in the analysis.