OREANDA-NEWS. June 25, 2014. Almaty has hosted the 19th meeting of the Project Working Group on Transport and Border Crossing of the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) chaired by the Vice-Minister of Transport and Communications of Kazakhstan Azat Bekturov, the press service of the Ministry of Transport and Communications reports.

The meeting was attended by representatives of transport and customs agencies of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, as well as international organizations, financial institutions, associations and businesses.

During the round table participants noted the priority projects in the field of road, rail and inland waterway transport including the construction of the international transit corridor "Western Europe-Western China", railway line project "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, railway line project "Uzen-Gorgan through Gyzylgaya-Bereket-Etrek" and the construction of a new railway route "Zhezkazgan Beyneu".

Particular emphasis was placed on the need to support the SPECA member countries' decision to participate in the intergovernmental agreement on dry ports, which aims to create transport network nodes of integrated international transport and logistics system.

In addition the SPECA member countries, together with the UNECE / UNESCAP have discussed road safety via the international harmonization of traffic regulations, construction of infrastructure, inspection of vehicles, and organization of dangerous goods transportation.