SEETAC’s Second Ministerial Conference in Tirana
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After the first successful ministerial conference held in Bucharest, Romania, SEETAC's (South East European Transport Axis Cooperation) Second Ministerial Conference took place in Tirana, on 16th November 2010.The conference was organised by the Albanian Ministry of Public Works and Transport in cooperation with the Central European Initiative, involving almost all the Ministries of Transport and Infrastructure present in the South East Europe, financial institutions such as World Bank, EBRD, European Commission - DG Move and the Joint Technical Secretariat of the South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme.
The project was attended by a large number of participants and strongly followed by the Albanian National Television and press.
The Conference's purpose was to brief on the financial coordination's state of the play between the EU and other financial institutions' commitments in the region in relation to the transport projects and on the other hand matching these priorities with the projects envisaged by the SEETAC project countries in the light of the EU enlargement policy, EU Transport policy for the South East Europe and the current debate on the TEN- T revision.
The Albanian Minister of Public Works and Transport, Mr. Sokol Olldashi, opened the conference, by presenting the latest developments in his country also thanks to the cooperation with the EBRD, WB and other IFIs and by emphasizing the need for new international connections, modernisation and rehabilitation of existing links.
CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter, then addressed the audience, by highlighting the role of the CEI in bringing the non-EU countries closer to the European Union. In this sense the SEETAC project is a perfect example of the work for integration between the Western Balkans and the EU transport systems in order to generate transport continuity and infrastructure development in Europe and beyond.
In this context Mr. Francois Bégeot from the DG Move has confirmed the importance of accessibility as the main vector for the economic growth and development. Mr. Bégeot also reaffirmed that SEETAC is strongly supported by the EU Commission (DG Enlargement, DG Mobility and Transport) for its contribution and results that can be profitable in the TEN - T (Trans European Network for Transport) revision process.
Mr Fabio Serri from the EBRD presented the involvement of the Bank and the transport sector in the region and his intervention was followed with great interest by all high level ministerial representatives. The latter presented their national priority projects in the second session, with a particular accent on bottlenecks and obstacles to territorial integration, with the related financial implications.
The conference outcomes will serve as the basis for the future SEETAC activities, especially in relation to priority projects and public and private financial resources for their implementation.
SEETAC's third ministerial conference will take place next year in November, in Athens, Greece.