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 marks its 75th anniversary celebration in Vienna
    September 20, 2023
    To commemorate its 75th anniversary, the International Road Federation (IRF) is supporting and organising a series of events around the world. The 4th International Symposium on Freeway and Tollway Operations held in Vienna on 26 – 30 June was high in the calendar of celebrations
    Read More
  • Roads for the future
    July 31, 2012
    Speakers at the 3rd European Road Congress looked at ways of preparing infrastructure to cater for future demands. Patrick Smith reports Road accidents in Europe can be reduced substantially, but vehicles will have to make more use of technology, and they will cost more. The problems will not be made any easier with the knowledge that road transport is set to double between 2040 and 2050. These were just some of the forecasts made at the 3rd European Road Congress, held in Brussels, Belgium, a key road sect
    Read More
  • The IRF India Regional Conference is seeing its 9th edition this year
    July 7, 2015
    The IRF Geneva said that India has the dubious distinction of claiming the highest number of fatalities by road crashes. More than 10% of road-related deaths occur in India alone, and this poses a serious challenge, being the major killer of young and productive lives. While India’s infrastructure programme is being lauded all over the world and high rate of growth has been achieved for the 1.25 billion strong democracy, a significant 3% of the GDP is lost every year due to the uncontrolled and unmanaged
    Read More
  • A defining milestone for Caribbean cooperation
    July 20, 2012
    Over 200 delegates from 31 countries took part in the 1st IRF Caribbean Regional Congress, a new platform for dialogue at the service of a region with fast-evolving infrastructure needs. As they address the questions of development and global integration, many of the Caribbean region's island nations are adopting visionary measures to adapt their highway infrastructure to the needs of a booming economy, growing regional trade and an increasingly mobile population.
    Read More

Highlighted Content