Secretariat - Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities

VIENNA, 7 October 2009 - Policymakers and experts will discuss measures to promote good governance at border crossings, improve the security of land transportation and facilitate international transport by road and rail in the OSCE region at the First Preparatory Conference to the 18th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum in Astana on 12 and 13 October.

Participants and keynote speakers will include Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Zhigalov, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Azat Bekturov, Goran Svilanovic, the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, and Kozy-Korpesh Karbuzov, the Chairman of the Customs Committee of Kazakhstan. Hong Wang, Principal Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Co-ordinator, Central and West Asia Department at the Asian Development Bank and Mohammad Mirzaei Kahagh, a Director at the Economic Co-operation Organization, will also take part.

The Astana meeting launches the 18th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum process and precedes the first part of the Forum which will take place in Vienna in February 2010. The second part of the Forum process will start with the Second Preparatory Conference, to be held in mid-March. The concluding part of the Forum will take place in Prague in May 2010.

Journalists are invited to attend the opening and first sessions of the conference, from 10:00-11:30 on 12 October, at the Rixos President Hotel Astana, Kunayeva Street 7, Astana. A news conference will be held in Hall "D" immediately following. Journalists interested in interviewing speakers are encouraged to contact OSCE Economic and Environmental Adviser Roel Janssens, roel.janssens@osce.org or OSCE Political Officer Andrew Offenbacher in Astana, andrew.offenbacher@osce.org.

For admittance to the conference venue please present a valid press card at the conference registration desk.