On May 22-23, 2023, TRACECA participated in the 14th International Capacity-Building Seminar on Trade and Transport Facilitation held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan

The event was attended by representatives of the EC, UNECE, relevant structures of the countries of the region, international organizations, international financial institutions and other invited participants.

The objective of the two-day seminar was to identify business requirements for the digital transformation of certain documents and supply chain sectors, review best practices in implementing port community systems in the transition economies and issue recommendations, discuss possibilities for pilot testing of the digitalization of information exchange in collaboration with TRACECA, etc.

The speakers' presentations included a vision for the implementation and use of UN CEFACT standards, as well as the eFTI Regulation and platform, building a port community system on a transition economy’s own resources, information on public-private partnership in trade facilitation, cooperation with EU4Digital, possible use of standards for air cargo documents in pilot projects, and others.

Session 2 “Pilot project implementation on digitalization of CIM/SMGS Consignment Note” was organized jointly with the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission on Europe-the Caucasus-Asia Transport Corridor (PS IGC TRACECA).
 
As part of Session 2, a panel discussion was held on the digitalization of a prototype consignment note, using the international standards, as well as legal aspects of the pilot project. Representatives of railway operators from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye and Ukraine shared their positions on possible pilot projects.

During Session 2, the Secretary General of the PS IGC TRACECA, Mr. Assavbayev A.A. made a presentation on the topic "Pilot project on the use of the electronic CIM/SMGS consignment note". The Secretary General noted that cooperation with TRACECA partners - OSJD, CIT, UIC and UNECE allowed to organize 2 seminars – one in June 2022 and one in January 2023. "Our session within the framework of this UNECE seminar is the third event dedicated to a potential pilot project on the use of the electronic CIM/SMGS consignment note, initially suggested in June 2022," - Mr. Assavbayev A.A. noted.
 
In May 2023, two consultations with railway operators of interested states were organized in order to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding on the use of electronic CIM/SMGS. "The consultations provided a favourable opportunity to exchange views among potential participants of the pilot project. The text of the Memorandum of Understanding has been updated to reflect the proposals submitted, which in turn has brought the process of MoU signing by the interested participants closer," the Secretary General emphasized.

On the outcomes of the seminar, further steps in the development of practical pilot projects for the digitalization of multimodal data and document exchange using global standards were presented to the participants.


For reference:
 
The horizons of UNECE - PS IGC TRACECA cooperation are actively expanding in a number of directions on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on December 4, 2008 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Related news:

• On October 31, 2022, TRACECA took part in the High-level Conference for SPECA countries - the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia, held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan

http://www.traceca-org.org/en/news/single-news/n/on_october_31_2022_traceca_took_part_in_the_high_level_conference_for_speca_countries_the_un_spe/