|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
May 29, 2007 Black Sea Caravan ends with great successThe Black Sea Ring Highway Caravan ended its 7,500 km-long journey through the 12 BSEC countries around the Black Sea basin to collect valuable data en route to facilitate road transport in the region.Istanbul – The Black Sea Ring Highway Caravan successfully completed its 7,500 km journey around the Black Sea basin. The 12 trucks composing the caravan were welcome in Istanbul by an Arrival Ceremony held at the entrance of the Dolmabahçe Palace next to the Bosphorus. Starting from Belgrade on 19 April 2007, the Caravan drove across the 12 Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) countries* to finally reach its destination point in Istanbul a little more than a month later. This initiative emphasised the signing, by the foreign Ministers of the 12 BSEC countries, of 2 BSEC Memoranda of Understanding on the Coordinated Development of the Black Sea Ring Highway and on Motorways of the Black Sea. The Caravan effectively contributed to making these projects known throughout the region. IRU General Delegate to the Middle-East and region, Haydar Özkan, said "This Caravan demonstrates yet again that road transport drives progress. We must therefore remove all barriers, as any penalty on road transport is an even greater penalty on the economy" This public-private partnership, jointly organised by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the Union of Road Transport Associations in the BSEC Region (BSEC-URTA), under the patronage of the BSEC Secretary General, H.E. Ambassador Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, constitutes the first concrete step towards a developed and integrated road transport market in the BSEC region. BSEC Secretary General, H.E. Ambassador Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, said "I have personally learned a lot about the role of road transport in our daily lives, and its importance in the economic development and integration of the Black Sea region. It must be our priority to allow road transport, our trade, our tourism, to flow freely amongst us, otherwise how can we speak about economic co-operation?" Additionally, the Caravan collected significant data regarding non-physical barriers to road transport in the BSEC region and road infrastructure around the Black Sea basin, while transporting goods between the BSEC countries. They are now being analysed by the NEA transport research and training centre in the Netherlands and will be made public in Istanbul on 26 June 2007. For all details about the Caravan journey please visit www.BlackSeaCaravan.org * Serbia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and Turkey * * *
IRU - 3, rue de Varembé - CH-1211 GENEVA 20
Phone: +41 (22) 918 27 00 - Fax: +41 (22) 918 27 41 |
|||
|
|||
