The International Forum hosted by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Turkey gathered Ministers in charge of Transport and Communications from more than 25 countries, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Maldives and others, Heads of prominent international organizations, representatives of leading associations, unions and institutions of the sector all over the world.
The Forum started with the opening session where H.E. Adil Karaismailoğlu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey and H.E. Binali Yıldırım, Elder of the Turkic Council, Member of Parliament, Former Speaker of Grand National Assembly and Prime Minister of Turkey, addressed the audience with welcoming speeches.
In his speech at the opening session, Mr. Binali Yıldırım stated that Turkey has made a silent revolution in the last 20 years and has become one of the ten largest countries in the world. He noted that the projects that took the country through a new era in transportation and communication laid the ground for the smooth flow of trade, wealth, goods and people between Europe, Asia and Africa. He also stressed the need to continue to support and realize regional and global transport projects.
Minister Karaismailoğlu, in his speech, emphasized the importance of investment in transportation and communication infrastructures and underlined that Turkey is opening the door to a new era in the transportation sector and maritime field with the “Istanbul Canal”, the project that has emerged in line with the technological and economic developments in the world, the changing economic trends and the increasing needs in transportation infrastructures.
Ministers and Heads of International Organizations participating in the Forum held a Roundtable Meeting where they discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the transportation and logistics sector, current situation and dynamics, future plans, foresights, targets and policies of transport and communications sectors in the world and Turkey.
Addressing the Ministerial Roundtable meeting, the Turkic Council Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev shared with the participants on the latest developments in enhancing transport and transit cooperation within the Turkic Council.
Secretary General touched upon the efforts being made by the Organization to facilitate the positive developments taking place in the Trans-Caspian Corridor by such initiatives as holding Ministerial and expert-level meetings on Transport and Customs, establishing Sister Ports Cooperation mechanism, enhancing legal framework of transport cooperation by signing cooperation protocols and drafting comprehensive multimodal transport agreements, as well as implementing projects on digitalization of customs and transport operations.
Secretary General Amreyev also underlined that the victory of Azerbaijan in the Liberation War opened new avenues of regional cooperation, connectivity and formation of formidable corridors, including the Zangazur Corridor. Therefore, he called the private sector all over the world to take advantage of these opportunities.
Baghdad Amreyev also took part as a panelist in the Session entitled “Reshaping the Global Trade: New Logistics Routes and Turkey’s Strategic Importance” held in the framework of the Forum. In his speech during the panel session, Secretary General underlined that the Turkic Council had put efforts into the implementation of contactless transport and transit procedures, which have become more critical in sustaining uninterrupted international freight transport and maintaining the supply chain for addressing the grim economic picture in the wake of Covid-19.
On the sidelines of the Forum, Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev also met with H.E. Rashad Nabiyev, Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan and H.E. Adil Karaismailoğlu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey and exchanged views on the perspectives of transport cooperation within the Turkic Council as well as the Agenda of the upcoming 5th Meeting of Ministers in charge of Transport of the Turkic Council to be held on 14 October 2021 in Budapest.
On the margins of the Forum, Secretary General of Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev and Secretary General of International Road Transport Union (IRU) Umberto de Pretto signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Turkic Council and IRU and held a comprehensive discussion on further cooperation on the application of digital transport tools such as eTIR, eCMR, ePermit, eVisas along the main transport routes connecting Asia to Europe.
