OREANDA-NEWS. June 29, 2011.  The international seminar entitled Facilitation of Safe Trade and Automotive Industry Development organized in collaboration with the International Road Transport Union (IRU) was conducted in the conference hall of the President Hotel in the Turkmen capital.

The forum participants represented a number of the Turkmen ministries and departments, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Motor Transport, the Institute of Strategic Planning and Economic Development, the State Customs Service, the Insurance Service, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Union of Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs and the international organisations, including the International Road Transport Union and the TRACECA international transport programme.

A high-level delegation of the International Road Transport Union led by Secretary General Martin Marmy had arrived in Ashgabat to participate in the forum in Ashgabat. As is known, the International Road Transport Union is the world road transport organisation, which upholds the interests of bus, coach, taxi and truck operators in Europe America, Asia, and Africa and consists of over 180 members from 74 countries of the world, including the Association of International Automotive Operators of Turkmenistan.

The major issues put on the seminar agenda included universally recognized and criteria for the activity of automotive carriers, cooperation on development of the automotive market, the potential to facilitate transnational road transport transit in Turkmenistan, international conventions in this sphere.

Addressing the forum, IRU Secretary General Martin Marmy noted that Turkmenistan played a critical role in developing road transport network across the continent, which was the analogue of the Great Silk Road, and this seminar was to be a new step to enhance cooperation and promote motor transportation in the region.

Exchanging views, the forum participants focused on the high potential for regional partnerships and evaluated positively the prospects for expanding cooperation as consistent with the open door policy pursued by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov seeking to expand trade and economic relations at the regional and global levels.

During the visit to Turkmenistan the IRU delegation attended the 8th Ministerial Meeting on Transport and Communications of the member states of the Economic Cooperation Organisation, which had started its work in Ashgabat today.