On February 26, 2020, Mr. Asset Assavbayev, Secretary General of the PS IGC TRACECA, met with Mr. Dan Iancu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to Azerbaijan

During the meeting, Mr. Assavbayev and Mr. Iancu discussed the current state of affairs in the Permanent Secretariat, the Plan of Events of the PS IGC TRACECA for 2020, and emphasized the key issues requiring a concerted decision with all participating countries of the MLA TRACECA.

Mr. Assavbayev pointed out the importance of substantial support of each TRACECA member state with regard to initiatives and proposals for further development within the framework of the of the Action Plan for implementation of the Strategy of the IGC TRACECA for 2016-2026 developed on the basis of the TRACECA Master Plan and the proposals of the Parties for the period 2017-2020.

The agenda of the meeting included the discussions on transportation and containerization of freight along the TRACECA corridor, improvement of border-crossing procedures, introduction of a single electronic document and development of a new technical Annex on TRACECA electronic document flow to the MLA, etc.

In his turn, Mr. Iancu mentioned the project of the International Route of freight traffic between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The route is based on the geographical proximity of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Turkmenistan, the possibilities of the ports of Constanta in Romania, Poti in Georgia, Baku in Azerbaijan, and Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan, the direct connection between the port of Constanta and the Danube river, and then between the internal rivers and channels on the European continent, opening access to Central and Northern Europe.

With the exception of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Romania are member-states of the MLA TRACECA. In this regard, joining TRACECA by Turkmenistan as a full member of the Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport for Development of the Europe-the Caucasus-Asia corridor and the continuation of negotiations with the Turkmenistan Party in this dimension become relevant. 

During the meeting the necessity to strengthen a constructive dialogue with the industry units and the Directorates General of the European Commission responsible for transport sector was also highlighted.