Organized by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) in a virtual format, the meeting brought together the Secretaries General of IRU Umberto de Pretto , Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev, Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA (PS IGC TRACECA) Asset Assavbayev, Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Michael B. Christides, and Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Hadi Soleimanpour.
During the meeting, Parties discussed the efforts being made by their respective organizations in the fight against the global pandemic and measures currently taken by them in the field of transport during the crisis period and elaborated on the practical ways to address the difficulties their Member States are currently facing in transporting goods.
At the meeting, Secretary General B. Amreyev made a speech and shared the Turkic Council's latest developments in the transport and related sectors, including the establishment of a “Task Force” at the level of Deputy Ministers of Transport, Economy, Trade and Customs to quickly resolve emerging issues and effectively coordinate transport and logistics during the pandemic, the current efforts aimed at increasing the efficiency of the “green corridors” and developing a single registered list of essential goods to facilitate their uninterrupted flow, and digitalization of customs and border crossing procedures through introducing Pilot Projects “eTIR” and “ePermit” among the Member States.
Underlining the importance of sustaining uninterrupted international freight transport and maintaining the supply chain for the regional trade and recovering the sizeable losses in the economies, he also stressed that the continuation of seamless transport is crucial for ensuring food security and unhindered movement of essential goods.
Referring to the significant decline in road transport turnover following unilaterally imposed restrictions posed by the Covid-19 Pandemic, Secretary General of IRU Umberto de Pretto in his speech urged the need to take coordinated measures by the governments to avert mass bankruptcies in the transport sector and protect transporters.
The Head of PS IGC TRACECA Asset Assavbayev briefed about the efforts of the Organization on the use of best practices to achieve harmonization of border crossing requirements in the TRACECA countries and an online platform for transport operators aimed at providing up-to-date information on testing and vaccination across the transit routes. As a measure to ensure the safety of transport workers, he also advocated for the inclusion of the drivers into the list of high-risk professions for medical purposes.
Stressing the lack of coordination among the countries while taking emergency measures during the Pandemic, Secretary General of BSEC Michael B. Christides informed on the activities of BSEC related to providing basic protocols for stakeholders to be applied to transport operations during the restrictions and improving border crossing facilities in line with the health and safety standards.
Secretary General of ECO Hadi Soleimanpour shared his views on the possibility of creating economic and “virus-free” corridors as effective steps to overcome the negative impacts of the global pandemic on the economies of the regional countries, as well as pointed out the importance of a regular network among the International Organizations for enhanced collaboration and better coordination.
Parties also exchanged views on the status of implementation of recovery measures by governments and touched upon the future steps that they would need to take in the transport field for the early recovery of the economic repercussions of the pandemic.
Following the meeting, the Heads of the International Organizations issued a Joint Statement as an outcome paper of the event, the full text of which is presented here-below.
