The International Road Transport Union (IRU) Secretary, General Umberto de Pretto, gathered with transport ministers from Iran, Iraq and Tajikistan while attending the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE)’s Inland Transport Committee meetings earlier this week.
This gathering followed de Pretto’s participation in a small ministerial workshop at the World Economic Forum, in which he outlined the vital role of streamlining trade and border processes. This sentiment was echoed by Türkiye’s Minister of Transport, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, who stressed the need to resolve border bottlenecks that leave truck drivers stranded for days.
The three ministerial meetings, all held at IRU headquarters, focused on promoting cross-border cooperation, improving logistics efficiency, and accelerating the digitalisation of transport and customs with a key focus on the TIR global transit system to streamline trade.
Iran’s Minister of Road and Urban Development, H.E. Farzaneh Sadegh Malvajerd, highlighted the country’s rapid progress in expanding its transit corridors, confident that volumes would reach a record 20 million tonnes by 21 March.
Malvajerd noted that continued collaboration with IRU is essential to sustaining this growth, and emphasised Iran’s commitment to digitalising transport operations. She also mentioned the rollout of the professional training and certification program for Iranian road transport managers as a key achievement.
Iraq’s Minister of Transport, H.E. Razzaq Muhaibis Al-Saadawi, underscored the country’s role as a key trade gateway between the East and West, expressing strong support for granting TIR operators exclusive trade facilitation measures to make transport safer, faster and more efficient.
He spoke further to the importance of the TIR system in supporting Iraq’s ambitious Development Road Project.
An IRU delegation was in Iraq earlier this year to plan the country’s first cross-border TIR movement.
Tajikistan’s Minster of Transport, Azim Ibrahim, discussed how the country could enhance its role as a transit hub between China, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, and reinforced the need for a greater adoption of digital transport tools, such as e-CMIR, eTIR and e-permits, to streamline processes and improve competitiveness in trade.
Additionally, IRU will support Tajikistan with the introduction of a new smart tachograph in the European Union.
In other news, Australian multimodal logistics company, Team Global Express, and Chinese integrated logistics firm, SF Express, plan to work together.
