Press Release Astana

30 September, Astana - International commercial truck caravan set to travel with the slogan "From Beijing to Brussels, road transport drives progress" during the 3rd IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference in Beijing has arrived today in Astana.

The caravan is of particular importance for the road transport sector of Kazakhstan in the context of New Eurasian Transport Initiative (NELTY), a programme adopted recently by the Kazakhstan Government. This programme aims at developing the Kazakhstan section of transport transit corridor for freight carriage from China to the CIS and EU countries and the USA.

At the press conference on the occasion of the caravan arrival in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, Mr E. Koshanov, Kazakh Vice-Minister of Transport and Communications, said: "The Republic of Kazakhstan is trying to master transit road transport since the Kazakhstan economy located at the heart of the Eurasian continent, between dynamic markets in Europe, East and South-East Asia, depends in many respects on potentially great transit capabilities of our country. An assessment of freight transport flows confirmed that road transport is capable to offer a less expensive alternative to other means of transport. This is of particular importance for high value goods carried between Asia and Europe".

I. Runov, IRU General Delegate to the CIS, referring to the caravan mission, declared: "Today's rapid growth of the economies located in the Asia-Pacific region poses a problem for international transport sector in respect of alternative (to sea transport) and efficient transport technologies allowing goods delivery and distribution to/from that region. In response to this problem, representatives of international road transport sector demonstrate possibilities of delivering goods from that region by land, thereby ensuring door-to-door delivery and reducing the required time from twofold to threefold".

Mr. V. Trezinsh, President, Latvian International Road Transport Association «Latvijas Auto» said: "For Latvian road operators this caravan is of economic importance, however, we can achieve a success provided we, road operators from various countries, work as a single team". R. Visokavichus, Latvian ambassador in Kazakhstan, who took part in the press conference, and K. Kuzmichev, acting trade representative of Russia to Kazakhstan, shared this opinion.

This approach is fully compatible with the policy of the International Road Transport Union reflected in its slogan "Working together for a better future".