Seoul—GTI Transport Board members gathered for the 6th Transport Board Meeting on 12 July 2016. The Meeting co-organized by GTI Secretariat and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, ROK, was preceded by the 1st Meeting of the ASEM Expert Group on Eurasia Transport and Logistics.

 

During the Transport Board meeting, Members of the Board discussed the national progress made along the GTI Regional Transport Strategy and upheld the concrete progress of GTI transport cooperation. In particular, it was agreed to continue the path of the implementation of the GTI Regional Transport Strategy with the extension of the GTI Medium Term Transport Action Plan till 2018 and inclusion of new projects suggested by the GTI Member Countries. The GTI Secretariat has reported to the Transport Board on the recent developments within the NEA EXIM Banks Association and Logistics Sub-Committee (LSC), including the current status of the LSC’s pilot project of experimental transport along the “Mudanjiang-Suifenhe-Vladivostok-Donghae-Sakaiminato”. The participants emphasized the important role of GTI as a regional cooperation platform for promoting sustainable development in Northeast Asia.

 

Participants from UN ESCAP, Korea EXIM Bank, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), GTI Transport Expert Group, JSC Russian Railways, Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Rail Network Authority attended the meeting. The 7th Transport Board Meeting will take place in the Russian Federation in 2017.

 

The GTI Secretariat also took part in the 1st Meeting of the ASEM Eurasia Expert Group on Transport and Logistics (EEGM). The status of GTI as a partner organization of the EEGM was stated at the ASEM Symposium on Eurasia Transport and Logistics held in September 2015, which proves the significant role of the NEA region in establishing the transport and logistics connectivity in the whole Eurasia. Director of GTI, Ms. Wang Weina, has served as one of the keynote speakers at the Plenary Session of the meeting to deliver a presentation on the major achievements of GTI and its vision about the future cooperation with EEGM. After the keynote speeches the EEGM came in three sessions and focused on specific topics that seem critical to connecting Eurasia: “Infrastructure”, “Facilitation” and “Financing”.