The 6th IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference and Ministerial Meeting opened today in Tbilisi, Georgia, bringing together more than 350 leading political and business representatives to identify political and operational measures to promote and further facilitate international road transport to allow it to interconnect every business and every transport mode between Europe and Asia, including through the Caucasus region as a major shortcut and logistics hub for Eurasian trade.

Tbilisi – The 6th IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference, organised in cooperation with IRU’s Georgian Member, the Georgian International Road Carriers Association (GIRCA) on the theme “Road transport: Interconnecting every Business and every Transport Mode between Europe and Asia”, opened today in Tbilisi, Georgia, attracting more than 350 business and political delegates from over 40 countries, as well as transport ministers and their representatives from Europe, Middle-East, Central and South-East Asia, and high-level representatives from international organisations and financial institutions involved in revitalising the Silk Road.

Opening the Conference, IRU President, Janusz Lacny, explained, “You just need to look on a map to understand that Georgia is located strategically at the crossroads between Europe and Asia along the Ancient Silk Road.” However, he stressed that “to allow international road transport to realise its full potential, and in so doing interconnect every business in every country along the ancient Silk Road to every major world market, unacceptable, inhumane and costly waiting times, which account for over 40% of international road transport time and create an environment conducive to bribery, leading to over 30% additional unjustified transport costs, must imperatively be eliminated by implementing the appropriate border crossing procedures, notably the UN facilitation instruments.”

Organised under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Transport of the Republic of Georgia, Nika Gilauri, the IRU conference is being held in parallel with a Ministerial meeting, which will discuss the required governmental measures to effectively promote and further facilitate trade and international road transport along the Silk Road.

Also, for the first time in the framework of this IRU Conference series, a coordination meeting between international organisations and financial institutions will be held in order to foster the concerted action of these key actors in the effective revival of the Silk Road.

Janusz Lacny concluded, “The city of Tbilisi has historically been home to peoples from different cultures, religions and ethnicities and has been, and aspires to become yet again, an important role on this major trade route.”

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See the Conference Day-1 speeches, presentations and pictures

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