OREANDA-NEWS. The Secretary General of the BSEC PERMIS Ambassador Michael B. CHRISTIDES participated in the Meeting of the Ministers of Transport of the BSEC Member States held in Sochi, the Russian Federation, on 1 June 2016. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Mr. Maksim SOKOLOV, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation.

Secretary General CHRISTIDES made an opening address in which he underlined that cooperation among the BSEC Member States develops in the sector of transport, in a satisfactory way, yet there is room for improving the speed and efficiency of this cooperation. He added that this improvement gains more importance, considering the new opportunities and challenges which are offering to BSEC Member States a greater space of action. The Secretary General mentioned the dynamic activism by many international players, mainly China, in the establishment of new links between Europe and Asia for the faster and safer transport of goods and movement of people.

The Secretary General underlined that in order to be able to attract the interest of international financial institutions to BSEC projects, especially in the field of transport infrastructure, the relevant organs of BSEC need to finalize in a timely way all necessary data on the above projects. He stated that the BSEC Member States and the Organization itself, have a significant opportunity and responsibility to take an active role in the relevant developments in the wider region for the benefit of all concerned.

Commenting on the issue of interconnection between the spheres of transport and tourism in the BSEC region, the Secretary General CHRISTIDES congratulated the Chairman-in-Office for the above connection, underlining that there can only be a satisfactory cooperation in the field of tourism if an adequate transport infrastructure (ports, airports, roads, customs, stations, etc.) is in place. He also commended the idea of organizing an ad hoc joint meeting of the relevant BSEC Working Groups on Transport and Tourism.