THE HIGH-LEVEL REGIONAL DIALOGUE ON THE ISSUES OF SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT WAS HELD UPON THE INITIATIVE OF TURKMENISTAN

Today, the high-level Regional Dialogue entitled “Strengthening Transport Connectivity in the SPECA Region and Beyond in the Era of COVID-19” organized by the Government of Turkmenistan in close cooperation with the United Nations, its regional commissions and relevant specialized agencies was held in the format of a videoconference. 

Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, Deputy Secretary General, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Ms. O. Algayerova, UNECE Executive Secretary, as well as the heads and authorized representatives of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Development Coordination Office have participated to the forum.

Also the Acting Minister of Transport of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Deputy Ministers of Transport of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took part in the work of the Regional Dialogue.  

The specialists and experts of international organizations in charge of multilateral economic cooperation, in particular in the area of transport development and communications also took part in the work of the conference.

A number of key issues of expanding multifaceted partnership in the field of transport during the coronavirus pandemics were discussed in the course of the Regional Dialogue.   The relevance and significance of the given problem is conditioned by the immense need of adapting the economic systems of the Central Asian states and its neighboring regions to the difficult situation which has aroused today in the world economy as a result of the spread of the new type infection. 

In this regard, the leaders of international organizations and high-ranking governmental delegations who took part in the given conference underlined the vital importance of consolidating the international efforts on the issues of enhancing the effectiveness of functioning of international transport corridors, optimization of the activities of state structures and companies, involved in the process of forming and developing the transport and communication systems.  

Taking into consideration the specificity of current time, the parties paid special attention to the necessity of developing new international-legal mechanisms securing the work of transport systems in extraordinary conditions.

In this context, the Turkmen side has underlined that according to the initiative of the President of Turkmenistan, the UN General Assembly Resolutions on sustainable transport were unanimously adopted in 2014, 2015 and 2017, as well as the first UN Global Conference on Sustainable Transport was organized in Ashgabat in 2016.  The resulting document of the given Forum became the legal foundation for forming new approaches to wide international partnership in the field of transport.    

Building on the above said initiative, the President of Turkmenistan in his speech at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly proposed to consider in the framework of the current session the Draft Resolution of the General Assembly on ensuring stable international transportation during emergency situations.

During the videoconference, the participants exchanged views and made concrete proposals on the development of collaboration aimed at the resolution of the above-mentioned and other issues.

According to the results of the Regional Dialogue, the agreed upon document reflecting the main outcomes of the given conference was adopted.