OSCE helps improve inland transport connections between Europe and Asia

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 5 July 2011 – More than 50 transport and customs officials and policy makers from 11 Central Asia, South Caucasus and Eastern Europe countries will focus on improving inland transport connectivity between Europe and Asia during a three-day OSCE-supported workshop that started today in Almaty.

The Experts Group meeting , funded by the OSCE, aims to support OSCE participating States in exchanging experiences as part of the Euro-Asian Transport Links project Phase II, developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) with 27 countries from the Euro-Asian region since 2003.

Alexander Peytchev, the Economic and Environmental Officer at the OSCE Centre in Astana, said: “The Euro-Asian transport links project supported by the OSCE since 2006 is widely recognized to have great added value as a catalyst to put the development of adequate transit and transport policies higher on the economic agenda of the countries in the OSCE region.”

Michalis Adamantiadis, the Chief of the Transport Facilitation and Economics Section at the UNECE, said: “To date the project has already resulted in the identification of the main Euro-Asian priority routes and infrastructure projects. We have also conducted studies addressing border crossing facilitation challenges and the development of inland transport options, in addition to existing maritime routes. The project has also resulted in the development of an interregional investment strategy.”

This week’s meeting will discuss measures to further develop and improve transport infrastructure, review national legislation and methods to overcome non-physical barriers to transport and trade, as well as explore opportunities for the development of Central Asia into the logistics hub of the region.

Manat Bibassov, the Head of the International Relations Department at the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, added: “Bilateral and multilateral co-operation are important factors for solving current challenges in the transport sector. That is why my government so so much welcomes this important project.”

Participants will also provide feedback on various activities conducted as a follow-up to the 18th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum. In addition, key topics of the forthcoming OSCE-UNECE publication “Best Practices at Border Crossings: a trade and transport facilitation perspective” will be presented and discussed, among them an international legal framework for trade and customs; private industry partnerships; processing of freight, including control, clearance and transit policies; public financial management; and border crossing performance indicators methodologies and bench-marking. This publication is expected to be launched in both English and Russian language versions this autumn.