Georgia chairs, hosts anniversary Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia meeting

16th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission of TRACECA opened in Tbilisi. Photo: Ministry of Economy

Agenda.ge, 10 Feb 2023 - 13:55, Tbilisi,Georgia

Development of multimodal and maritime transport, facilitation of border crossing procedures and other questions are being discussed at the annual meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission of TRACECA, an international transport cooperation programme between the European Union and its partner countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia, hosted in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi.

The meeting, chaired by Georgia, also includes the signing of a memorandum between the permanent secretariats and the United Nations office for the least developed, landlocked and small island developing countries.

Professionals and officials gathering for the event will also discuss:

  • The results of the functioning of the TRACECA permit system for international road transport in 2021
  • The status of implementation by the MLA parties of the Commission’s decisions
  • Information on accession to international agreements
  • The report on the implementation of the action plan for 2018-2021 for implementation of the Strategy of the Intergovernmental Commission

Photo: Ministry of Economy

Georgia’s Ministry of Economy said the event was also marking the 30th anniversary of the creation of the TRACECA programme and the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport for Development of the Europe-the Caucasus-Asia Corridor.

In his comments, Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili said TRACECA member countries had been cooperating “for years” to improve infrastructure and coordinate operations. 

The meetings of the Intergovernmental Commission are a very important platform for this communication, coordination and cooperation. The chairmanship is important for Georgia in terms of being able to better coordinate and communicate with partner countries, which will contribute to the more efficient operation of TRACECA and, in general, to increase competitiveness in our corridor", Davitashvili said.

The Ministry also highlighted the accession of Turkmenistan to the MLA as a topic of “special attention” for the meeting.

Georgia received the chairmanship of the Commission from Bulgaria.