Tehran, Dec 18 (MRUD NEWS) – The fourth session of the Ministerial Conference on Transport among the member states of UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) was convened online from 14 to 17 December 2021.
The fourth Conference discussed strategies for scaling up sustainable transport initiatives in Asia and the Pacific to strengthen regional cooperation, assess progress in the implementation of the Regional Action Programme in phase I (2017-2021), and adopt a ministerial declaration containing a new regional action programme for sustainable transport development in Asia and the Pacific for 2022 to 2026.
Iran Deputy Minister of Transport, Amir Mahmoud Ghaffari, attended the session on behalf of Iran and presented his speech on 16 December in which he expressed Iran’s readiness for supporting and cooperating with ESCAP.
Pointing to the facilitating role of transport on trade, economic well-being, and sustainable development, Ghaffari mentioned that development of transport infrastructures in Asia-pacific is unbalanced. Also infrastructural investments and transport connectivity are inadequate. To face these challenges, coordination of rules and regulations at borders is necessary, he added.
During last two years, Iran Ministry of Transport and Urban Development have run different regional transport projects. The main connecting projects were finalizing Khawf-Herat railroad and Astara-Astara Railroad which as the missing links along East-West Corridor and North-South Corridor connect Iran to Afghanistan and Azerbaijan respectively.
In addition, the new border bridge of Sarakhs at Iran-Turkmenistan Border was launched as the second joint border development project between the two countries.
Another cross-border achievement was reaching the MoU for Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran (KTI) Railway Corridor with the aim of commercialization of KTI.
As preventive hygiene measures during the Covid-19 epidemic, Iran Railways installed disinfecting ducts for railway wagons in the Sarakhs-Turkmenistan border, which led to the resumption of transportation in a short time.
Finally, Islamic Republic of Iran Railways drafted a new attachment to The Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) and proposed it to the ESCAP Secretariat which covers the general principle of electronic data interchange between Railways of different countries.
At the third session of the Conference, held in 2016 in Moscow, the participants adopted the Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Transport Connectivity in Asia and the Pacific and the Regional Action Programme for Sustainable Transport Connectivity in Asia and the Pacific phase I (2017-2021). The Declaration and the Regional Action Programme have provided essential guidance to enhance the sustainability of transport connectivity and mobility in the region.