Greetings - Andrey Denisov

Greetings to the Participants in the Caravan Beijing-Berlin-Brussels

Andrey Denisov Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

South-East Asian countries, China, in particular, have demonstrated high rates of economic development over the past decade. This, in turn, leads to the growth of trade in this region and an expansion of economic ties with other ones. Alongside with the EU and the USA, China has become a world leader as to trade volumes. Further dynamics and structure of world economic growth in the coming decade will be largely determined by the speed of further economic and socio-political reforms in China and the country's interaction with other world centres of influence.

These issues are a matter of constant and close attention of the UN and its regional economic commissions, UNECE and UNESCAP. These bodies, together with other UN structures, make efforts to create suitable conditions of economic growth in the region, and the region's early integration in a global system of economic relations. A vastly important part of this process should be the creation of rationally and efficiently organized transport flows, within certain corridors connecting South-East Asian countries with the rest of the world.

An important role in this process belongs to the International Road Transport Union (IRU), which in the course of several years has paid special attention to the development of road transport in the CIS countries and the Euro-Asian region as a whole. Evidence of this is the already third international conference, organized by the IRU, this time in China, on related matters as well as the initiative to launch the Beijing-Brussels Road Transport Caravan that is intended to prove in practice the efficiency of commercial haulage over the Euro-Asian land bridge.

I wish the participants in the 3rd IRU Euro- Asian Road Transport Conference successful work, and the participants in the historic Caravan no trouble and difficulties on the road.