The Deputy Secretary General for Energy, Minerals & Environment (EME), Hإ±seyin Avni Bicakli participated in the International Conference of member countries of the Lapis Lazuli Agreement on Transit and Transport on November 28, 2018 at the Avaza National Tourism Center in Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan). He was accompanied by the Director for Transport and Communications, Ahmad Saffari.
First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Yagub Eiyubov, first Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Achilbay Ramatov, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkmenistan Mr. Mammethan Chakiyev, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey Mehmet Cahit Turhan, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Afghanistan Mohammad Hamid Tahmasi and Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Akakiy Sagirashvili were among the high level participants. International organizations were represented by ESCAP, ECO, CIS and IRU. Also, the managing director generals of logistics companies at ports of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia and Turkmenistan attended the event.
The event was opened by Deputy Prime Minister of Turkmenistan Mr. Mammethan Chakiyev who indicated the need for developing effective transport infrastructure and large-scale logistic centers.
Speaking at the session Ambassador Bicakli, in his statement noted that implementation of the Lapis Lazuli transport corridor will help to increase the capacities of the ECO’s key transport routes while ECO will facilitate Lapis Lazuli’s implementation. The Deputy Secretary General also emphasized on the imperative role of Turkmenistan in ECO’s transport policies and the importance of documents such as the Turkmenbashi Declaration, the Dushanbe Communiqué and the Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA). The implementation aspects of ECO’s key transport routes and corridors in conjunction with prospective implementation of Lapis Lazuli were specified in the statement.
The meeting generally focused on the issue of coordination of the multimodal cargo transportation. Inter-institutional and inter-governmental coordination was recognized indispensable for ensuring interoperable international cooperation on transport.
Transit transport was especially highlighted in view of upscale economic growth. It was said critical for international trade, entrepreneurial activities, and sustainable use of natural resources.
Active cooperation in the area of transport amongst regional countries was urged with the objective of supporting greater involvement of the region in global trade, diversification of existing transport corridors, and formation of new transport routes. The representatives of international/regional organizations also voiced the support of their concerned organization in development of transport and transit corridors.
In discussing the implementation of the Lapis Lazuli multimodal transport corridor for the purposes of the increased economic growth of regional countries, the meeting named the Turkmenbashi International Seaport as central for activating transport & communications potential of the region. The Lapis Lazuli transport corridor would, in view of the participants, support fast integration of Afghanistan, one of the ECO countries, into world’s common economic space. The ECO’s contribution in such collaborative effort was especially marked. The meeting resulted in the adoption of the Final Declaration.
