Hanoi (VNA)– A high-level UN meeting in Hanoi on March 7 discussed challenges andopportunities in developing transit infrastructure and corridors.

The ongoing meeting for the Euro-Asia region onimproving cooperation in transit and trade facilitation and the 2030 Agenda forSustainable Development is being held by Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry and the UNOffice of the High Representative for the Least DevelopedCountries, Landlocked Developing Countries and the Small IslandDeveloping States.

Ambassador Michael B. Christides, SecretaryGeneral of the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), saidcountries should be aware of the importance of transport and trade facilitationto connect regions and continents. He said it was necessary to boostconnectivity between Asia and Europe.

He said the BSEC plans to form an expresswaynetwork in the Black Sea area to link the capitals of the member countries. It alsoplans to upgrade existing roads to meet European standards.

Another project on upgrading sea routes of theMediterranean and North Polar regions is being considered to reduce roadtransport and increase the volume of goods transported by sea, thus savingexpenses.

Christides also suggested cooperation instreamlining and harmonising customs and border check procedures to facilitatetrade.

Meanwhile, Mircea Ciopraga, Secretary General ofthe Intergovernmental Commission of the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia(TRACECA), said as public capital cannot fully fund projects, TRACECA hascalled for funds from the private sector. Public-private partnerships haveproven effective. 

The improvement of transport infrastructure inTRACECA has also been made along with measures to ensure the smooth movement ofgoods and persons, and the application of IT in transport, he said.

At the meeting, participants discussed enhancingcooperation between landlocked and transit countries to promote theimplementation of the 2030 Agenda. They looked into the role of transport toachieve the Sustainable Development Goals in landlocked nations.

Macharia Kamau, Special Envoy on SustainableDevelopment Goals implementation and climate change, said being landlockeddoesn’t mean a country is unable to prosper and progress. 

These countriesshould consider being landlocked as an advantage to create momentum forscientific and technological advances, thereby remaining part of thedevelopment flow and benefiting from the same progress and integration as othernations.-VNA