IRF Geneva present for the Belt and Road Initiative at the WTC China

IRF Geneva was one of the key supporting organisations of the World Transport Convention (WTC 2017) held on 4th-6th June 2017 in Beijing, China. Hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and organised by China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) the convention had as its theme “Green and Integrated Development through Innovations” and attracted 1,820 papers from all over the world and 5,000 delegates. Kiran Kapila, IRF chairman, delivered a keynote address in the opening
December 18, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Kiran Kapila, IRF chairman, delivered a keynote address in the opening ceremony for the Belt and Road Initiative at the WTC China

1201 IRF Geneva was one of the key supporting organisations of the World Transport Convention (WTC 2017) held on 4th-6th June 2017 in Beijing, China. Hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and organised by China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) the convention had as its theme “Green and Integrated Development through Innovations” and attracted 1,820 papers from all over the world and 5,000 delegates.

Kiran Kapila, IRF chairman, delivered a keynote address in the opening ceremony which was inaugurated by Wan Gang, minister of Science and Technology and by Dai Dongchang, vice-minister of Transport. In his address, Kapila stressed the importance that the concept of “connectivity” has today and spoke briefly about India’s Smart Cities initiatives. The future he envisioned is that of lesser and lesser human intervention and the growth of automation.

Connectivity is indeed at the heart of the new and ambitious Chinese initiative known as “The Belt and Road Initiative” or the new Silk Road. A dedicated roundtable was convened on the 4th June (one day before the opening of WTC). IRF Geneva was represented by Susanna Zammataro, IRF executive director. The roundtable discussed in particular the establishment of the International Transport Alliance (ITA), a platform to enhance multi-level and wide-ranging cooperation between the countries along the Belt and Road. The importance of harmonised technical standards and procurement procedures and contracts was one of the points Zammataro stressed during the roundtable.

The proposal for initiating the establishment of the ITA was presented and endorsed in the plenary of WTC.

WTC 2017 was also the opportunity to discuss Chinese participation at the IRF World Meeting (14th-17th November 2017) and collaboration plans with CHTS for 2018.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IRF Global conference call for abstracts and presentations
    March 5, 2024
    The IRF Global R2T conference has a call for abstracts and presentations.
    Read More
  • IRF chairman appointed minister of transport for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
    February 27, 2015
    Engineer Abdullah Al-Mogbel, chairman of the International Road Federation, was appointed minister of transport, Saudi Arabia with immediate effect by royal order of His Majesty Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Chairman Al-Mogbel’s appointment crowns an exceptional career, which began in 1978 as a project manager at the Ministry of Communications (later renamed the Ministry of Transport) at the onset of Saudi Arabia’s drive to connect its major cities throu
    Read More
  • India’s massive demand for bitumen
    March 9, 2016
    India to lead the pack in bitumen consumption - Partha Pratim Basistha reports from the Asian Bitumen Conference. In the emerging global bitumen market, demand is expected to reach 122 million tonnes by 2018. Increasing road construction activities in the fast growing markets of India and China will be the main growth drivers of the bitumen market in Asia. This was the message delivered at the 10th Asian Bitumen Conference held in New Delhi, India from 23rd-24th November 2015. The two-day event, organised b
    Read More
  • The ERF had a key presence at the IRF World Meeting in Riyadh
    January 21, 2014
    Organised every four years, the IRF World Meeting has established itself as one of the most prestigious congresses for road transport professionals. The 17th IRF World Meeting has just concluded its deliberations and lived up to both its reputation and participants' expectations Held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the event attracted over 2000 participants across six continents that were present as exhibitors and/or had the opportunity to participate in many of the numerous high quality technical and scientific s
    Read More

Highlighted Content