Participation of the PABSEC International Secretariat in the BSEC Working Group on Transport, 23 November 2020
Ms. Milena Ljubinkovic, Secretary of the PABSEC Economic, Commercial, Technological and Environmental Affairs Committee took part in the BSEC Working Group on Transport organized online on 23 November 2020.
The meeting was attended by the representatives of Republic of Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bulgaria, Georgia, Hellenic Republic, Republic of Moldova, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Russian Federation, Republic of Turkey and Ukraine. The representatives of the Union of Road Transport Associations in the BSEC Region (BSEC-URTA), the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and the Danube Commission participated in the Meeting in the capacity of the BSEC Sectoral Dialogue Partners. The representatives of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR), the Central European Initiative (CEI) and the Customs and Tourism Enterprises Co. Inc. (GTI) participated in the meeting as Guests.
The Working Group considered and decided to use in its work the PABSEC Report “Legal and Political Aspects of the Development of Transport Routes in the BSEC Region” and the PABSEC Recommendation 171/2019, adopted at the 54th Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Assembly on 20 November 2019 in Sofia, as well as the PABSEC Report “Legislative Framework for the Realization of the Projects Connecting Europe and Asia (One Belt - One Road)” and the PABSEC Recommendation 174/2020, adopted at the 55th PABSEC General Assembly on 6 August 2020 at online meeting.
At the meeting participants discussed the intensifying efforts with regard to the implementation of the coordinated development of the Black Sea Ring Highway, as well as the state of affairs with regard to the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Development of the Motorways of the Sea in the BSEC Region. Special emphasis was put on the facilitation of road transport of goods in the BSEC region and COVID-19 and its impact on supply chains and mobility networks. The need of facilitating border-crossings in the BSEC Region, in particular through the establishment of modern and efficient border station facilities was highlighted, as well as the importance of the BSEC Permit System in the overall efforts to gradually liberalize the transport market in the BSEC Region.