SEETO Transport Investment Conference TRINCON 2011 held in Sarajevo
The South East European Transport Observatory (SEETO) organized
the SEETO Transport Investment Conference - TRINCON 2011 on April
19th, 2011 in Sarajevo, in cooperation with the Ministry
of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The
conference was supported by the European Commission.
Having in mind that transport infrastructure development in the
Western Balkans is vital for both - local economies and for the
entire EU, the TRINCON 2011 was foreseen as a conference that will
expedite the development of a high quality pipeline of top priority
investments in the transport sector that can subsequently be
carried out jointly by governments and investors.
As a high profile and interactive event, the SEETO Transport
Investment Conference - TRINCON 2011 gathered high level
delegations from the Transport and Infrastructure Ministries from
the SEETO Regional Participants, the European Commission, various
International Financing Institutions and transport related
companies.
The Conference enabled potential investors to review the status
of the top priority transport infrastructure investments and to
highlight the fundamental elements that are required for any
project in order to be considered as "bankable" and thus worth
pursuing. Thanks to SEETO's unique regional and Regional
Participant`s EU accession perspective, investors were able to
assess selected projects in terms of their overall contribution to
national, regional and EU transport networks. TRINCON 2011
reconfirmed the SEETO's role as a distinctive creator and promoter
of the regional multi-annual transport planning in the Western
Balkans region and presented a framework for harmonised strategic
transport and investment policies in the region as a firm ground
for attracting investments.
The conference was opened by Mr. Rudo Vidović, Minister of
Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mrs.
Katarina Čop Bajde, SEETO's Steering Committee Chairlady. The
Conference was divided in two panels and was followed by Networking
Village. The first panel was moderated by Mr. Renzo Daviddi, Deputy
Head of the EU Delegation for Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the
second one by Mr. Paolo Costa, President of the Venice port
Authority and former Chairperson of the Transport Committee of the
European Parliament.
Three main SEETO's regional projects presented during the
first panel of the TRINCON 2011 were the
following: Sava River, Road Corridor VIII and route 7a, Railway
route 4.
The mentioned projects were commonly agreed before the
conference among the Regional Participants in a genuine spirit of
regional cooperation and with common understanding of their added
value and regional importance.
The second panel named "Enabling Environment
for Transport Infrastructure Investments", on which all active
IFIs, EC and regional PPP network were represented, was
centered around few major topics: investment trends in the region
of Western Balkans and the IFIs' transport investment strategies;
coordination mechanisms between the EC, IFIs and other donors for
facilitating infrastructure investments, such as the Western
Balkans Investment Framework; project preparations and
financing, and bankability requests by the IFIs. The main
idea of the panel was to ensure common understanding of the
Regional Participants, EC and IFI's when it comes to the
requirements needed for boosting infrastructure investments. The
most important recommendation was given for projects bankability -
the core issue for project preparation is the technical, economical
and ecological feasibility. During the discussion, it was also
pointed out by the IFIs that it is extremely important for Regional
Participants to have a balanced fiscal policy and to improve the
macroeconomic policy. The regular maintenance of the network was
clearly noted, as well as the necessity for transparent fiscal
procedures. Issues of inter-modality and possibilities for the
private sector to be engaged in PPP schemes were welcomed. Finally,
the main conclusion deriving from this panel was that regional
cooperation, prioritization of projects and transparency in all
procedures is of crucial importance for the investments.
The conference was concluded by Ms. Marjeta Jeger, Director - DG
Move, who expressed her satisfaction from the overall event's
organisation and Mr. Nenad Nikolic, General Manager of the SEETO
Secretariat, who reiterated some of the conclusions endorsed at the
conference. The conference conclusions as well as priority project
presentations are published on the SEETO website
(www.seetoint.org).
The Conference was followed by a structured Networking
village, where Regional Participants and the interested
parties from the private sector, EC and IFIs had an opportunity to
closely follow other specific projects of regional interest, plans
and reforms or to exchange information. Around 15-20 rotating
appointments took place within the Networking village.
Overall, SEETO Transport Investment Conference was attended by
almost 150 participants. By the number of attendees, variety of
present stakeholders and its scope, the conference is recognised as
an especially important event in 2011 for the entire region
involved in the SEETO cooperation.