On October 14, 2025, in Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye, a Meeting of the Permanent Representatives (National Secretaries) of the PS IGC TRACECA was held under the Chairmanship of the Islamic Republic of Iran

During the opening of the meeting, Mr. Asset Asavbayev, the Secretary General of the PS IGC TRACECA, briefly highlighted the events that have taken place since the previous meeting since March 2025, including the meetings under the auspices of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Chairman Party in the IGC, and events held by the Permanent Secretariat aimed at simplifying border crossing procedures and introducing digital solutions.

The meeting Agenda included 11 items for the preparation of the documents to be considered during the Eighteenth Annual Meeting of the IGC TRACECA, scheduled for May 2026 in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The date will be announced.

Key items include the Review of national programme/strategic documents of the TRACECA countries in the field of transport; the Report on freight traffic statistics along the routes of the TRACECA corridor for 2024; the draft Strategy of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA for development of the international transport corridor Europe-the Caucasus-Asia for 2027-2036; establishment of the TRACECA Business Council and other issues.

During the meeting, the participants discussed a number of points of the Comparative Table on making amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the IGC TRACECA and the Statute of the PS and agreed on the corresponding wordings.

The draft Decision on amendments to the methodological documents in connection with the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area was also agreed.

Additionally, the MLA Parties welcomed the extension of the Republic of Lithuania's observer status in the IGC. 

On the margins of the meeting, on October 15, 2025, the participants held an informal meeting in the format of brainstorming, dedicated to improving the TRACECA activity.

Holding of such a meeting became an important initiative of the Permanent Secretariat, with the support of the Turkish Party, to promote open, honest, and constructive dialogue with the active participation of both the MLA Parties and the PS staff, with the aim of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of TRACECA activities for the benefit of all participating countries of the international transport corridor Europe-the Caucasus-Asia.

For reference:

• For the first time in the history of the IGC TRACECA, the MLA Parties, together with the PS staff, held an exchange of views and proposals in a free format on improving the structure's work in various areas: strengthening the legal framework and institutional mechanisms, optimizing the document flow, expanding interaction and information exchange between participating countries, preliminary event coordination and planning, and other issues. The meeting was moderated by Mr. Jonathan Pace, former Deputy Director of the Subdivision for Programme Management and Coordination of the Technical Cooperation Division of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).