On 10 February, the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), held an event entitled “SPECA Region at the Crossroads of Europe and Asia: Improving Interregional Connectivity in Developing Sustainable Multimodal Routes”.

As reported on the website of the Turkmen permanent mission, the meeting was held under the chairmanship of Turkmenistan in the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) and was held within the framework of the 87th session of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee.

The event was attended by the UNECE leadership, heads of transport ministries of SPECA countries, delegations of UNECE and ESCAP member states, as well as representatives of the European Union, the International Road Transport Union (IRU), DEKRA and other stakeholders. The Turkmen delegation was represented by Deputy Director General of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan A. Hudayberdiyev.

The participants discussed key issues related to the implementation of the SPECA roadmap for the digitalization of multimodal data and document exchange. Particular attention was paid to the adoption of UN CEFACT international standards aimed at the digitalization of transport and trade processes in the region.

Current national and regional projects aimed at creating sustainable multimodal routes between Europe and Asia were also discussed. Discussions also touched on cooperation with key international organizations, including the EU, IRU and other partners. As the source emphasizes, the prospects for creating joint projects that will take into account the interests of all parties were considered.

The participants' attention was focused on projects aimed at improving interregional connections and creating new opportunities for attracting private and public investment in the development of transcontinental transport corridors.

In particular, the development of digital platforms for the exchange of data and documents to improve the efficiency of multimodal transportation was considered.

The meeting that took place takes the SPECA format to a new level of strengthening interregional ties and opens up new prospects for cooperation between Europe and Asia, the source notes.