IRU Secretary General, Umberto de Pretto, today addressed and met with policy influencers of the Euro-Asia region at the high level UN meeting in Vietnam, to seek ways to promote regional cooperation on transit, trade facilitation and achieving the objectives of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Discussions focused on how efficient road transport and improved customs procedures between Landlocked and Least Developing Countries (LLDC) can transform their trade potential and overall sustainable development.
Umberto de Pretto said,
“Inefficient customs procedures hamper the economic growth of least developed and landlocked countries. The application of tried and tested UN conventions, such as the TIR Convention, facilitate trade and transport and ultimately turn landlocked countries into land linked nations.”
The event was organised by the Government of Vietnam and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).
IRU held bilateral meetings with the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Shamshad Akhtar, the Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Mukhisa Kituyi, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), Kunio Mikuriya, the President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Jin Liqun, and the UN Undersecretary General and High Representative of UN-OHRLLS, Gyan Chandra Acharya.
There was also an informal discussion with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Pham Binh Minh, which continued the momentum for Vietnam’s possible accession to the TIR Convention.
