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

The conference was jointly organized by the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN Office in Geneva and other international organizations and the UN Economic Commission for Europe.

The objective of the conference was to apply international standards in the development of digital transport links between SPECA countries and to exchange existing experience in this area, as well as to discuss the current situation and the needs for enhancing the digitalization of supply chain data sharing along trade routes using various modes of transport between Europe and East Asia crossing the Caspian Sea and Central Asia.

The event was attended by representatives of the relevant structures of SPECA countries, the UN and other international institutions, as well as the private sector.

During the opening session, Minister of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Rashad Nabiyev, noted that SPECA plays a positive role in promoting regional and global economic integration between member countries, attracting financial resources to finance national priorities, and encouraging the implementation of UNECE and UNESCAP standards.

In continuation of his speech, the Minister informed that "Construction of various roads and railways, commissioning of new international airports, construction of Baku International Sea Trade Port and creation of Alat Free Economic Zone have turned Azerbaijan into an international transport and logistics center".

The event was attended by senior officials of the relevant structures of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the UNECE Executive Secretary, Ms. Olga Algayerova, heads and representatives of other international institutions.  

In addition, the speakers also shared information on the implementation of the new UN/CEFACT package of standards and reference data models, which aimed at digital transformation of data and documents exchanges in multimodal supply chains.

The speakers highlighted the importance of the conference topics and spoke about joint projects.

For reference: UNECE and the PS IGC TRACECA cooperate in a number of directions related to areas of cooperation within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on December 4, 2008 in Baku, Azerbaijan.