In this article, Asli Çalik, member of IRU’s Presidential Executive, reflects on a hopeful shift in Türkiye – and calls on others to follow its lead.

At the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) ministerial meeting yesterday, IRU made a clear case: trade thrives where transport is digital and drivers are professional.

Road transport operators are beginning to invest in new vehicles. But for the decarbonisation transition to succeed, the sector needs clear, coordinated support. EU policymakers and road transport industry leaders are coming together to debate practical and scalable solutions to deliver environmental and economic benefits at IRU’s high-level event tomorrow in Brussels.

Digitalisation and eTIR are the future of trade facilitation. IRU’s Secretary General has urged customs authorities in the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region to accelerate adoption to unlock growth and greater efficiency across borders.

IRU was at the heart of last week’s International Transport Forum (ITF) summit in Leipzig, championing pragmatic solutions to make road transport not only greener, but also more resilient and competitive in the face of global challenges.

The Secretary General of IRU, the world road transport organisation, outlined a pragmatic decarbonisation vision at a special closed-door ministers’ roundtable yesterday in Leipzig. Today, he charted the key to a resilient workforce primed for emergency preparedness.

Leading the dialogue on the future of automation in road transport at EUCAD 2025, IRU organised a workshop on AI and logistics, ensuring that the voice of operators was central to Europe’s cooperative, connected and automated mobility (CCAM) agenda.