Skip to main content

Key IRF event for Middle East

The International Road Federation's event in the Gulf & Middle East Region in the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain comes amid calls for efforts to meet the challenges posed by the region's growing demand for mobility and movement of goods.
March 2, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 713 International Road Federation's event in the Gulf & Middle East Region in the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain comes amid calls for efforts to meet the challenges posed by the region's growing demand for mobility and movement of goods.

Over 400 regional and international delegates, including many heads of corporation, regional policy makers and ambassadors attended the formal opening of the event in the presence of deputy premier Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa as well as their Excellencies Essam bin Abdulla Khalaf, Minister of Works, Kingdom of Bahrain; and, Abdullah Al-Mogbel, deputy minister for transport, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and current chairman of IRF Washington.

In his opening address, His excellency Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa noted that the region's economies are among the fastest growing in the world, resulting in new infrastructure demands which the region is responding to through multibillion dollar investments. Examples of these large-scale infrastructure programs include two major highways linking Qatar and Saudi Arabia through Bahrain, added minister Khalaf. "We cannot be content with keeping pace with demand - we must confidently predict and plan accordingly", noted for his part minister Al-Mogbel in his opening statements, adding "the region's traffic accident rates demand greater attention to education, enforcement as well as the deployment of better and more forgiving infrastructure. As we embrace the latest technologies, intelligent transport systems will play an increasingly important role both in saving lives and mitigating road congestion in our cities."

Commenting on the success of the Congress, IRF Washington president and CEO Patrick Sankey added: "For over 30 years, IRF has been a partner to the Gulf countries. As their capacity building needs have grown, IRF has facilitated knowledge sharing programs by providing professional development opportunities for its road and traffic engineers. I am thrilled to announce that the region continues to be a major contributor to the endowment of the International Road Educational Foundation, which provides graduate-level scholarships to the next generation of road and transport leaders."

The three-day Congress, Exhibition & Professional Development Course is co-organised with the 3532 Bahrain Society of Engineers (BSE). BSE President A Majeed Al Gassab highlighted that Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf countries are committed to exploring the role of new technologies as part of their infrastructure projects. "IRF's 3rd Middle East Road Congress will address these aspects through input from and dialogue with a wide range of global experts", he concluded.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Roads for Regional Enhancement
    November 1, 2012
    IRF once more broke ground by gathering over 600 regional transport officials for the world's first comprehensive review of sustainable transport solutions in the context of the Andean Region. Lima, Peru, an important regional crossroads for trade and a hub for engineering know-how, offered an ideal backdrop for the Congress. The event offered a comprehensive panorama of design, construction, and maintenance solutions adapted to the region's exceptionally complex topography. Geological and climatic conside
  • Expectations for growth of UAE infrastucture
    February 9, 2012
    The INTERMAT Middle East event is being launched at a pivotal time of major infrastructure development in the region. As with most sectors, the highways industry has not had a fantastic 18 months in the Gulf. Not only has the recession impacted the delivery of projects across the board, GCC Governments' attention have been switching increasingly to rail, as plans to roll out a Gulf-wide rail system gather steam. GCC countries will invest over US$119.6 billion in infrastructure projects over the next decade
  • IRF Opens Innovation-Centric Global R2T Conference in Las Vegas
    January 11, 2019
    A global summit of road mobility thought-leaders and innovators was convened in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 7th-9th at the invitation of the IRF Nevada DOT director Rudy Malfabon, ASCE president 2018 Kristina Swallow, AASHTO executive director Bud Wright, Dubai Traffic & Roads Agency CEO Eng Maitha bin Adai, Bechtel engineering operations manager Steven Curtis and Jacobs Highway/Bridge director Susan Martinovich were all present. They figured among 200 leading international specialists who shared best
  • 18th IRF World Meeting & Exhibition Draws Global Stakeholders to Dubai
    January 20, 2022
    The 18th IRF World Meeting & Exhibition, a four-day global summit and technology showcase in Dubai, UAE, came to a close on November 10th, 2021. The culmination was a renewed call for consensus-building and knowledge partnerships in industry to address key sustainability and mobility challenges.