Skip to main content

Argentina, Israel and Morocco join International Transport Forum

In a key development, Argentina, Israel and Morocco are joining the International Transport Forum (ITF). The decision was made at a summit of international transport ministers held in the German city of Leipzig, who unanimously approved membership of the countries. Of particular note is the appointment of Morocco, the first full ITF member country from Africa. Housed by the OECD in Paris (France), the ITF is an intergovernmental organisation that acts as a think tank for transport policy and organises the
June 4, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
In a key development, Argentina, Israel and Morocco are joining the 1102 International Transport Forum (ITF). The decision was made at a summit of international transport ministers held in the German city of Leipzig, who unanimously approved membership of the countries. Of particular note is the appointment of Morocco, the first full ITF member country from Africa.

Housed by the OECD in Paris (France), the ITF is an intergovernmental organisation that acts as a think tank for transport policy and organises the Annual Summit of transport ministers. ITF is the only global body that covers all transport modes. This decision takes the number of ITF member countries from 54 to 57.

Previously, Morocco was an observer country since the creation of ITF in 2006. “Morocco’s accession will be a plus for the Forum. It is also a positive development for Morocco,” said Mohamed Najib Boulif, Morocco’s deputy minister of Transport. “The geostrategic position of Morocco in the Mediterranean, in Africa, in the MENA region: these are all strategic assets for Morocco’s participation.”

Israel joins the ITF after becoming a member of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2010. “Israel is keen to contribute to the work of the ITF, and to be inspired by it,” said Moshe Kamhi, Director of Economic International Organisations in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of Israel’s accession.

Argentina is the second ITF member country from South America, following the accession of Chile in 2012. Argentina has been actively involved with the ITF’s permanent working group on road safety (known as 3444 IRTAD) since 2009. It has been a leading force in establishing the Ibero-American Road Safety Observatory (OISEVI), for which IRTAD operates a Spanish-language database with road crash information.

Simon Bridges, minister of Transport of New Zealand, the 2015 ITF presidency country said, “New Zealand welcomes Morocco, Argentina and Israel to the International Transport Forum. The expanded membership of the ITF promises the opportunity to promote an increasingly global outlook for the work of the ITF.”

ITF secretary-general José Viegas also expressed his satisfaction at the accession of the three countries. “ITF is the global, all-modes transport organisation. These three new members make the ITF even more global, and they bring significant transport experience to the table,” said Viegas. “We will be working with the governments of Argentina, Israel and Morocco to ensure that they get value for their policy making out of their membership.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The ERF fully supports the PPRS Nice 2018
    May 16, 2017
    The first Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit (PPRS) took place in Paris in February 2015. This event, with more than 1,000 participants, represented an essential milestone for the road community in Europe and beyond. With its impressive programme, it highlighted the necessity to better preserve and maintain road infrastructure and urban road networks, as fundamental support towards the mobility of people and goods. This event gave public and private stakeholders the opportunity to present a variety
  • Cutting African road deaths with better safety measures
    March 16, 2020
    Using better safety measures will help cutting African road deaths.
  • Caribbean: a region stepping up to the road safety challenge
    July 5, 2016
    Transport Minister sets ambitious Vision at IRF Caribbean Regional Congress. Returning to Montego Bay, Jamaica, IRF’s 5th Caribbean Regional Congress was dominated this year by discussions focused on reducing injury risk through coordinated action by public and private sector stakeholders. Close to 100 participants from a host of Caribbean nations have reaffirmed a vision for roads free from death and serious injury. Many of Jamaica’s government departments with a role in achieving this vision were prese
  • PPRS: come together for International Road Maintenance Day
    March 27, 2018
    The world’s leading highway associations have launched International Road Maintenance Day to focus people everywhere on the protection of their local road networks. International Road Maintenance Day will take place on the first Thursday of every April, speakers said on day two of the Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit (PPRS Nice 2018). The first event will take place on April 5, 2018. “It will be one day per year to talk about the maintenance of our roads,” said Juan Jose Potti, the president of