Authored by: Alexei Podgur, Adv. I Yonatan Koyfman I IMEConnect
The India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, IMEC, has been widely framed as a transformative mega-project linking India to Europe through the Gulf and the Levant. While this long-term vision remains compelling, the current geopolitical and operational reality calls for a more pragmatic approach. Rather than waiting for full regional normalization or multi-billion-dollar railway projects, the focus should shift to what is feasible now. From IMEConnect’s perspective, the most actionable and strategically relevant step at this stage is to advance IMEC’s western link: the Europe-Jordan route via Israel.
Why the Western Link Matters Now
The eastern leg of IMEC between India and the UAE is already operational. In contrast, normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia may take time, and large-scale rail connectivity across the Arabian Peninsula is still years away. In this interim period, the Europe-Jordan corridor via Israel represents the most practical pathway for turning IMEC from declaration into implementation.
Jordan is not a marginal player in this equation. In 2024, trade between Jordan and Europe reached approximately €4.8 billion1, reflecting a 29 percent increase since 2019. Jordan also exported nearly USD 1.7 billion in textiles to the United States that year2. Yet large amount of this trade does not currently move through the IMEC western link, despite its potential efficiency advantages.
The Real Bottleneck: Sheikh Hussein Crossing
Few policymakers recognize that the primary constraint on IMEC’s western link is not political but operational. The Sheikh Hussein, also known as the Jordan River Crossing between Israel and Jordan, operates far below required capacity.
At present, on the Israeli side, the crossing handles roughly 150 trucks per day, while estimated demand stands closer to 1,0003. The reasons are technical and administrative: early daily closures, manpower shortages, limited space for expansion due to surrounding private land, and the absence of a dedicated government budget. The crossing relies almost entirely on its own revenues.This has created a classic chicken-and-egg dynamic. Limited capacity discourages businesses from using the route. Low usage then reduces the incentive to invest in upgrading infrastructure. The result is a self- reinforcing bottleneck at what may become the central land gateway of IMEC in the coming years. In logistics systems, throughput is not merely a technical metric. It defines influence. Port ownership establishes access, control over sustained flow shapes routing behavior across regions.
Even once regional rail lines are constructed, they are expected to run through the same crossing. Given the dominant role of Jordanian trucking companies, the land crossing is likely to remain strategically relevant even in a rail-connected future. Upgrading it now would be far more cost-effective than waiting for multi-billion-dollar railway completion.
A Targeted Upgrade Strategy
Several practical upgrades could significantly expand capacity. First, constructing an additional bridge, estimated at approximately USD 18 million4, could enable up to USD 4.1 billion in additional annual trade according to preliminary assessments5. Second, establishing a dedicated container yard for goods moving between Jordan and Europe or the United States would streamline transit. Third, deploying advanced security technologies could reduce manpower requirements, which currently account for roughly half of the workforce on the Israeli side of the crossing and represent a key operational constraint.
Such steps would immediately improve cargo flow, increase route reliability, and generate the market demand necessary to justify broader IMEC investments, including rail infrastructure.
Creating Demand: Positioning Haifa as a Western Gateway
Upgrading infrastructure alone is insufficient. Demand must be cultivated in parallel.
Despite public commitments by European actors to advance IMEC, many European and global business leaders remain unaware of the operational route via Israel and Jordan. This is particularly striking given the overall trade volumes between Europe and Jordan, alongside the underutilized potential in specific regions such as Greece and the Balkans, where bilateral trade remains relatively limited.
Positioning Haifa Port as IMEC’s western gateway is therefore essential. Targeted outreach to chambers of commerce, strategic media engagement, and tailored commercial packages for Jordanian exporters could help shift trade flows incrementally. Highlighting Jordan’s textile sector as a proof-of-concept industry could demonstrate how rerouting exports through the Sheikh Hussein Crossing and Haifa might enhance efficiency and competitiveness.
Strategic Incentives
The Eastern Mediterranean is increasingly structured around port assets linked to major strategic actors. In such an environment, corridor relevance depends on continuity between maritime hubs and inland interfaces.
For India-linked logistics actors, establishing a continuous chain from Indian ports through Haifa and onward to Mediterranean ports could create a competitive alternative to Chinese-backed routes. In this context, the recently signed IMEC trade partnership between Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and the Port of Marseille Fos6 further strengthens the European anchor of this logistics chain, signaling concrete progress toward integrating Indian and Mediterranean port infrastructure within the corridor framework. India-linked actors have already secured strategic maritime positions in the Eastern Mediterranean. The question at this stage is less about expansion and more about optimization – whether existing assets can operate as isolated hubs or as components of a functioning corridor architecture.
For the United States and the European Union, strengthening IMEC’s western link offers a commerce- driven response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, while also reinforcing alignment under the Abraham Accords framework.
Perhaps most importantly, advancing the western link provides a flexible and scalable model. It allows IMEC to begin functioning in partial form without waiting for Saudi normalization or the completion of approximately 1,615 miles of railway between the UAE and Jordan. Demonstrating viability through a working land and maritime corridor would transform IMEC from an aspirational concept into an operational proof of concept.
From Declaration to Delivery
The debate around IMEC often gravitates toward grand strategy. Yet corridors are not built by declarations alone. They are built by solving bottlenecks, aligning incentives, and creating incremental success stories.
The Sheikh Hussein Crossing may appear small in physical scale, but it is strategically decisive. Upgrading it, while simultaneously stimulating commercial demand through Haifa, offers the most immediate and cost-effective pathway to operationalizing IMEC’s western link.
Corridor credibility is ultimately tested at the first functional chokepoint. If IMEC is to move from vision to reality, the path forward begins with a bridge.
References:
1 https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/isdb_results/factsheets/country/details_jordan_en.pdf?utm
2 https://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/international-textiles-trade-news/jordan-s-garment-exports-to-us-rise-13- 5-total-exports-up-14-9–300427-newsdetails.htm
3 According to leading logistics companies partnering with IMEConnect
4 https://www.kas.de/documents/263458/263507/IMEC+publication+ENG.pdf/4568ca66-aaa4-3961-d59f- c9d7d23b8191?version=1.0&t=1751282626770
5 https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/the-india-middle-east-europe-economic- corridor-connectivity-in-an-era-of-geopolitical-uncertainty/
6 https://container-news.com/adani-ports-and-marseille-fos-sign-imec-trade-partnership/
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