Mubasher: The European Union (EU) and Japan on Friday clinched an infrastructure deal to coordinate transport, energy and digital projects linking Europe and Asia, according to Reuters.

The 10-point deal was signed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, formalising Tokyo’s contribution to a new Europe-Asia “connectivity” strategy, which the bloc, development banks and private investors would support with guarantee fund of EUR 60 billion ($65.65 billion).

In addition, the EU and Japan vowed to dedicate “utmost attention” to nations’ “fiscal capacity and debt-sustainability.”

“Whether it be a single road or a single port, when the EU and Japan undertake something, we are able to build sustainable, rules-based connectivity from the Indo-Pacific to the Western Balkans and Africa,” Abe was quoted by Reuters as saying in a Brussels forum.

The agreement came as the EU and Japan seek a network of land and sea ports with Southeast Asia, Central Asia , the Middle East, Europe and Africa, in counter to China’s so-known the Belt and Road Initiative, a series of construction projects across more than 60 countries.

“The sea route that leads to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic must be open,” Abe said, highlighting the necessity to block projects backed by Beijing and its expansive foreign exchange reserves controlling transport routes.

Juncker also pledged to support infrastructure construction “without mountains of debt” or dependency “on a single country.”