TBILISI HOSTS DONORS’ COORDINATION MEETING ON TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
armradio.am
10.11.2011 16:58
The World Bank together with the Georgian Ministry of Regional
Development and Infrastructure is hosting the Donors’ Coordination
Meeting on Transport Perspectives in the South Caucasus on November
10-11, 2011. The participants of the Meeting are the government
officials from the three South Caucasus countries, Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia, as well staff and officials of all the donors currently
involved in the transport sector (ADB, EBRD, EIB, IFC, JICA, KfW, MCG).
Following the three previous Coordination Meetings the overall
objective of the meeting is to encourage better donor coordination
in the transport sector in the South Caucasus, to share views among
donors on the current state of the transport sector and related policy
matters, and to discuss issues and strategy going forward.
“This Coordination Meeting is a unique opportunity to discuss
transport issues that affect the entire South Caucasus. The World Bank
is commended for facilitating these meetings, and the Ministry of
Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia would be pleased
to host the conferences annually. Such conferences would help to
develop stronger ties between South Caucasus countries in the frames
of infrastructure projects,” said Ramaz Nikolaishvili, Minister of
Regional Development and Infrastructure.
“The objective of the meeting is to maximize the development impact
of donor supported programs through their better alignment with
respective country programs and strengthened donor coordination. The
meeting will provide an opportunity for the participants to present
their programs, clarify investment needs and promote new project ideas
for donor support,” said Asad Alam, World Bank Regional Director for
the South Caucasus.
Presentations will be made by the respective government representatives
on the Transport Programs in their countries. These will be followed
by more in depth discussions with the donor group on their current
involvement and their views on the Government programs for potential
future support. The Armenian delegation is headed by Mr.
Manuk Vardanyan, Minister of Transport and Communication, the
Azerbaijani delegation is expected to be headed by Mr. Zia Mammadov,
Minister of Transport.
The Coordination Meeting will also discuss issues of general importance
for the Transport Sector at present and outlined possible future
trends. These discussions will focus on Road Safety: Developments
in the South Caucasus; Urban Transport: Developments in the South
Caucasus and the methods to improve Railways management.
During discussions, participants are expected to agree that transport
investments are important for the three South Caucasus countries
to support growth and job creation, and also to agree on stronger
efforts to ensure efficiency and sustainability of investments.