SEETAC's Second Ministerial Conference in Tirana
After the first successful ministerial conference held in
Bucharest, Romania, SEETAC's (South East European Transport Axis
Cooperation) Second Ministerial Conference took place in Tirana, on
16th November 2010.
The conference was organised by the Albanian Ministry of Public
Works and Transport in cooperation with the Central European
Initiative, involving almost all the Ministries of Transport and
Infrastructure present in the South East Europe, financial
institutions such as World Bank, EBRD, European Commission -
DG Move and the Joint Technical Secretariat of the South East
Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme.
The project was attended by a large number of participants and
strongly followed by the Albanian National Television and
press.
The Conference's purpose was to brief on the financial
coordination's state of the play between the EU and other financial
institutions' commitments in the region in relation to the
transport projects and on the other hand matching these priorities
with the projects envisaged by the SEETAC project countries in the
light of the EU enlargement policy, EU Transport policy for the
South East Europe and the current debate on the TEN- T
revision.
The Albanian Minister of Public Works and Transport, Mr. Sokol
Olldashi, opened the conference, by presenting the latest
developments in his country also thanks to the cooperation with the
EBRD, WB and other IFIs and by emphasizing the need for new
international connections, modernisation and rehabilitation of
existing links.
CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter, then addressed
the audience, by highlighting the role of the CEI in bringing the
non-EU countries closer to the European Union. In this sense the
SEETAC project is a perfect example of the work for integration
between the Western Balkans and the EU transport systems in order
to generate transport continuity and infrastructure development in
Europe and beyond.
In this context Mr. Francois Bégeot from the DG Move has
confirmed the importance of accessibility as the main vector for
the economic growth and development. Mr. Bégeot also reaffirmed
that SEETAC is strongly supported by the EU Commission (DG
Enlargement, DG Mobility and Transport) for its contribution and
results that can be profitable in the TEN - T (Trans European
Network for Transport) revision process.
Mr Fabio Serri from the EBRD presented the involvement of the
Bank and the transport sector in the region and his intervention
was followed with great interest by all high level ministerial
representatives. The latter presented their national priority
projects in the second session, with a particular accent on
bottlenecks and obstacles to territorial integration, with the
related financial implications.
The conference outcomes will serve as the basis for the future
SEETAC activities, especially in relation to priority projects and
public and private financial resources for their
implementation.
SEETAC's third ministerial conference will take place next year
in November, in Athens, Greece.