The IRU’s 5th Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference, “The Reopening of the Silk Road: from Vision to Reality”, will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 11 and 12 June 2009, gathering some 400 international figures from the political and business worlds.

Geneva – Now in its 5th edition, the IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference, organised under the high patronage of the Kazakh Minister of Transport and Communications, in cooperation with the Union of International Road Carriers of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KAZATO) on the theme “The Reopening of the Silk Road: from Vision to Reality”, will be held on 11-12 June 2009 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

This conference and networking event is the place to find concrete answers to the key questions affecting all international road transport operations on the Eurasian landmass, from the Far-East Asia to the Middle East and Western Europe. An international expert panel including high level representatives from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will explore how to facilitate Euro-Asian road transport.

The NEA Transport Research Centre will also unveil the final monitoring results of the IRU’s New Eurasian Land Transport initiative (NELTI), comprising daily haulage operations along the Silk Road in 2008 and 2009 and advising on how to operate efficiently, profitably, safely and securely along this now open for business route.

The Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Serik Akhmetov, stated, “Kazakhstan will turn its land-locked status into an advantage not only for this country but for the entire international community by facing the challenge and responsibility of a true and friendly transit country for goods transport by road between East and West as well as North and South!”

A closed Ministerial meeting will take place, in parallel to the IRU Conference, for Transport Ministers to seek the appropriate measures to re-establish the ancient Silk Road as the region’s main trade artery, as it was the case 700 years ago. Ministers will also attend the opening and closing sessions of the IRU Conference.

IRU President, Janusz Lacny, highlighted, “The 5th IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference will provide further evidence that no country is landlocked for road transport. The international road transport industry is paying a growing attention to the revival of the Silk Road, which not only unites Europe and Asia but, more importantly, allows every business along the route to be efficiently interconnected to every major world market, hence contributing to the prosperity and peace of regions and countries located all along this historical international artery.”

See the Conference programme and register now.

* * *

Press Office

International Road Transport Union (IRU)

3, rue de Varembé / B.P. 44

CH-1211 Geneva 20

Switzerland

Tel: +41 22 918 27 07

Fax: + 41 22 918 27 41

Mailto: Press@iru.org

Web: www.iru.org