ORGANIZATION OF
THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION
7th IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference, Ministerial Meeting and Co-ordination
Meeting of International Organisations and Financial Institutions
“Road Transport: Driving Regional and Intercontinental Trade”
under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein
Amman, 12-13 June 2013
Promoting Modern Infrastructures and
Effective Procedures in Transport
Ph. D. Prof. Ambassador Victor Tvircun
Secretary General
Permanent International Secretariat
Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization
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Wit
The Economic Agenda
• Transport is one of the priority areas of cooperation for BSEC.
• Fruitful cooperation relationship developed over the years between the BSEC
Organization and the International Road Transport Union.
IRU is one of the reliable partners of BSEC. Its over 60 years of experience
has been very helpful in promoting BSEC cooperation in the field of
transport.
• The strategy-document BSEC Economic Agenda: Towards an Enhanced
BSEC Partnership, endorsed by the BSEC Summit, held in Istanbul on 26 June
2012 dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of the BSEC is guiding the cooperation
in the BSEC framework.
• Establishment of an Efficient Transport Network is one of the 17 goals in
priority areas of action of the Organization.
To attain this goal, the Economic Agenda puts on the first place “promoting
sustainable transport systems which meet the economic, social and
environmental needs of the people of the Black Sea Region, in order to
reduce regional disparities and to link the BSEC Region’s transport
infrastructure to European and Asian Networks”.
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Policy Decisions
• Transport plays a vital role in promoting trade, investments and tourism within
the BSEC Region.
• The meetings of the Ministers of Transport of the BSEC Member States in
Izmir (28 November 2012) and in Odessa (29 May 2013) confirmed the
commitments of the Member States to ensure the progressive implementation
of the three major projects and their sub-projects:
♦ Black Sea Ring Highway;
♦ Motorways of the Sea in the BSEC Region;
♦ Facilitation of Road Transport of Goods in the BSEC Region.
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Major Projects and Sub-Projects (1)
• The Black Sea Ring Highway project envisages a four lane ring highway
system, approximately 7500 km long, to connect the BSEC Member States
with each other.
♦ A Steering Committee and a Joint Permanent Technical Secretariat of
the Black Sea Ring Highway were established in order to implement the
project.
♦ The Secretariat is managed by the leading public Hellenic company
“Egnatia ODOS S.A.”.
♦ At present, the Steering Committee is at the stage of finalizing the Ring
route.
♦ Afterwards, it will proceed with elaboration of a Master Plan and project
financing schemes.
• The Ministers of Transport of the BSEC Member States decided (Moscow,
21 October 2011) to include the Model Highway Initiative presented by
IRU into the future Black Sea Ring Highway’s Master Plan, thus aiming the
creation of modern highways with road infrastructure to the highest European
standards.
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• A pre-feasibility Study “Development of the Baku – Tbilisi – Batumi –
Trabzon Model Highway” was finalised in November 2012 by “Egnatia ODOS
S.A.”, with financing of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank and IRU.
• On 28 November 2012, in Izmir, at the International Conference on Trade
and Transport Facilitation in the Black Sea, Central Asia and Middle East
Regions, held back-to-back with a Meeting of Ministers of Transport of the
BSEC Member, a Joint Statement of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic
of Azerbaijan, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
and Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications of the
Republic of Turkey on the Creation of Model Highway on the Motor Road
Baku-Tbilisi-Batumi-Trabzon was signed.
• This step plays an important role for the further implementation of the Model
Highway Initiative in the BSRC Region.
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Major Projects and Sub-Projects (2)
• The project Motorways of the Sea in the BSEC region is aiming at
strengthening the maritime links among the ports of the BSEC Member
States. Activities within this project include:
♦ the upgrading of port facilities;
♦ identification of projects of common interest;
♦ securing free and fair competition in international shipping;
♦ facilitation of access to all modes of transport; and
♦ enhancement of maritime security and safety in the BSEC Region.
• Currently, a Joint Technical Secretariat, to be managed by the Turkish
Maritime Authorities, is being set up and an active phase in implementation of
the project has been initiated.
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Major Projects and Sub-Projects (3)
• The project on Facilitation of Road Transport of Goods in the BSEC
Region is directed at an efficient road transport and promoting regional trade
and economic growth.
♦ MoU signed in Kyiv in 2002, entered into force on 20 July 2006.
Several sub-projects aimed at:
- gradual liberalization of transport;
- visa facilitation for professional drivers;
- harmonization of charging policies;
- harmonization of weighing procedures; and
- other related issues.
• The BSEC Transit Permit for trucks – a project to be implemented on a
permanent basis as of this year by Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova,
Romania, Serbia and Turkey as well as other countries which may wish to join
it.
A multilateral document for gradual liberalization of bilateral and transit
international transport of goods in the BSEC Region.
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• There is a positive approach of the Member States to launch new pilot
projects, currently under consideration by BSEC subsidiary bodies:
♦ a Pilot Project on Introduction of the International Vehicle Weight
Certificate in the BSEC Region;
♦ a UNECE-BSEC Pilot Project on Readiness Assessment for the
Implementation of the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020)
in the BSEC Region.
• Promoting Best Practice at Border Crossings is another area of BSEC
action aimed at facilitating legitimate trade and transport across borders of the
Member States
♦ a Joint OSCE-BSEC Workshop on “Best practices at border crossings –
a trade and transport facilitation perspective” was held at the BSEC
Headquarters on 3 April 2013, with the purpose to further raise
awareness of the OSCE-UNECE Handbook and utilize it for capacity
building, adapted to the needs of the BSEC Region, in tackling issues
such as:
- customs risk management;
- public private partnerships in border management;
- co-ordinated border management.
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Need for synergyes
• The presentation highlighted only some of the most eloquent examples of
the action taken in the BSEC framework for promoting the regional
cooperation in the field of transport.
• BSEC Organization endeavours to promote modern infrastructures and
effective procedures in transport.
• BSEC relies on the cooperation with other international organisations, in
particular, International Road Transport Union, as well as business
associations.
• BSEC efforts at the level of the BSEC Region are complementary to the
efforts that undertaken in the development of Euro-Asian transport links by
other international organizations and institutions.
• There is need of synergies between the activities undertaken in different
international organizations in order to maximise benefits of available
resources for the respective Member States.
• Wishes for fruitful discussions to the participants.