Tehran, August 16 (MRUD NEWS)—The Ministerial transport conference of Landlocked Developing Countries holding on August 15 and 16 in Turkmenistan is gathering delegations from about 40 states and over 30 international organizations to initiate effective measures for realizing development goals of landlocked countries in the region.

In his speech at the conference, Iran Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Rostam Ghasemi, pointing to the economic diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran based on deepening relations with developing and neighboring countries, called increased connectivity as top priority of Iran's transport policy. This is due to the particular geopolitical location of Iran amid different regional and international transport corridors including the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). 

He added that the Islamic Republic of Iran's approach to international and regional connectivity is an interactive and collaborative approach that avoids competition. This approach is consistent with the approach of the Vienna Programme of Action for Land-Locked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014-2024. Eight out of 32 landlocked countries in the world have bilateral and multilateral transit interactions with the Islamic Republic of Iran. By now, Iran has undertaken part of the commitment of the international community to reduce the vulnerability of landlocked countries and help them for reducing the cost of trade by providing the landlocked countries of the region with the access to the high seas.

As per the theme of Conference, Financing for Better Connectivity, Iran transport minister pointed to the implementation of different transport projects in Iran with domestic financing and highlighted importance of international financing of important projects including the railway connection of Chabahar to Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan, connection of Mazar-e-Sharif to Pishawar in Pakistan, the reconstruction of the Quetta railway (in Pakistan) to Zahedan (in Iran), the construction of the missing railway line in Kyrgyzstan to connect the railway to Bandar Abbas through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, as well as equipping the rail fleets of transit countries.

The main objectives of the ministerial conference are to review the progress made by landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) in the field of sustainable transport and related SDGs, to determine the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and other challenges in this context.

The conference is organized on the initiative of Turkmenistan under the auspices of the United Nations.