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Europe-Asia transport connections booster for growth, prosperity: ASEM ministers

Xinhua, April 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Asian and European transport ministers on Thursday emphasized the important role of transport as a booster of growth and prosperity by facilitating connectivity between Europe and Asia.

They made the remarks in a declaration on the development of Euro-Asia multimodal transport connectivity passed here Thursday on the second day of the third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Riga.

The declaration stressed the importance of ensuring a smooth flow of goods and services, as well as enhancing people-to-people and business-to-business linkages between Europe and Asia.

The ministers also acknowledged the importance of promoting and enhancing transport integration through the development of new international multimodal transport corridors and routes between Asia and Europe.

The ministers also took notice of innovative intermodal and multimodal supply chain solutions that serve both as alternatives and complements to the traditional transport routes and means to deal with growing trade volumes between Europe and Asia and facilitates the emergence of inland ports, airports and logistics centres.

In their declaration, the ministers acknowledged the vision for enhanced and seamless connectivity between Europe and Asia espoused by ASEM heads of state and government at the 10th ASEM Summit in the Italian city of Milan in October 2014.

The declaration acknowledged the challenges faced by landlocked, island, archipelagic and geographically-peripheral countries and regions in relations to the Euro-Asian corridors in enhancing their transport systems.

The ministers stressed in the document the market potential of environmentally friendly rail-based transportation between Asia and Europe and agreed to promote and coordinate investments in transport infrastructure to improve connectivity between Europe and Asia.

The ministers confirmed their support for efforts to improve the supply chain and border crossing rules and called for action to remove bottlenecks and streamline transport documentation, customs and other border-crossing procedures both in international and national frameworks.

The ministers agreed to hold the next ASEM transport ministers' meeting in Asia in 2017. Enditem