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Delivered by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

27 May 2021

Excellencies, Transport Ministers of the ITF member countries,

Mr. Young Tae Kim, Secretary-General of ITF,

Distinguished participants,

It is my great pleasure to address you during this Open Ministerial on Transformative Governance: How can governments better foster innovation.

In Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP works with member States to achieve sustainable and seamless transport connectivity in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

However, such a transformation cannot become a reality without enabling innovation through governmental policies and regional cooperation.

We need to reshape transport connectivity as we recover from this crisis.

I am pleased to see that our cooperation with the ITF has already resulted in one of the major examples of building back better in the transport sector.

I refer here to the COVID-19 Recovery Guidelines for Resilient and Sustainable International Road Freight Transport Connectivity in ASEAN, adopted in January 2021, following the advisory services provided by ESCAP and ITF in close collaboration with the ASEAN secretariat.

Distinguished participants,

As we look towards the future, I see much potential for strengthening the cooperation between ITF and ESCAP, building on our achievements so far.

First, I see strong linkages between the global comprehensive dialogue on transport policies, supported by ITF, and the ongoing preparatory work by ESCAP on the next Regional Action Programme on Sustainable Transport, which will be deliberated at the next transport ministerial conference scheduled for December 2021. 

Second, I would like to call for even closer collaboration in support of informed and evidence-based transport policies in Asia and the Pacific.

Our joint modelling and analytical frameworks and tools can support member States in enhancing transport cooperation.

Distinguished participants,

I look forward to our collaborative efforts to address the sustainable transport connectivity challenges and opportunities in Asia and the Pacific.

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