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| THURSDAY, 15 MAY 2008 |
| CONGRESS OPENING |
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Welcome addresses: |
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Janusz LACNY, IRU President
"The theme of this Congress, “Road Transport, driving Peace and Prosperity!” will give governmental authorities, policy makers, the media and the public at large, a better understanding of the exceptional and irreplaceable role played by road transport in interconnecting people and businesses in all countries and regions to all world markets.
2008 is a special year. It marks the 60th anniversary of the IRU. In 1948, the founding fathers of the IRU had the right vision which is captured today by the IRU’s slogan, “Working together for a better future”." |
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Rifat HISARCIKLIOGLU, President, Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Turkey
"As a result of the fast developments in logistics and informatics, world trade is constantly growing and developing economies are significantly increasing their share in world production. These developments change production and competition patterns in the global economy. Today, production is undertaken at several different sites and production processes are more dynamic. The “produce and sell” approach is not sufficient anymore. Transporting the products to the markets within a short time and at reduced costs is an important element of competition. Current transport corridors and the capacity of transport infrastructure does no longer satisfy the needs." |
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Binali YILDIRIM, Minister of Transport of Turkey
"Today, visa requirements, waiting times at borders, formalities, any sort of limitations applied to the free circulation of goods, persons and services have adverse affects not only on the transport industry but also on social and cultural interaction. Hence, abolishing barriers on road transport, which plays a significant role in economic development and welfare, will stimulate world peace and improvement of social prosperity. We should bear in mind that improvement of the welfare of our people depends on stabilisation among our regions and economic and social development combined with a seamless transport between our countries and regions." |
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Kofi A. ANNAN, Former UN Secretary General
"Wherever my travels take me in the world, I see the indispensable role of road transport of people and goods. Coaches, buses, taxi and trucks whether big or small, provide for human mobility and economic activity in developed and developing countries alike. Countries and communities that do not have adequate road networks or road transport systems are unable to grow economically or attract productive investment. By representing the entire road transport industry worldwide, the International Road Transport Union plays a crucial role in helping to improve the safety record and environmental performance of road transport and ensuring the mobility of people and goods. I share the slogan of the 31st World Congress of the IRU saying that road transport drives peace and prosperity. I wish you much success in your future activities." |
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Mikhail S. GORBACHEV, President of the USSR (1990-1991)
"As individuals, as ordinary citizens, we all benefit from road transport. From the cradle to the grave, we all need and use services provided by road transport. Cities are cleaned up, shops are filled up with goods delivered by road transport and when they open every morning, we can enjoy all they have to offer. We could talk at length about this matter.
Transport is also linked with security issues, and I would like to say today, as I acknowledge your achievements and contribution to the general development of countries that road accidents and subsequent fatalities and traumas is a major problem affecting the entire world, and in particular my own country – Russia. The number of cars is growing so quickly in all areas and cities, and in Moscow in particular, that we were unprepared for the development of transport infrastructure in such a way as to ensure that it does not harm people" |
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Dr Abdullah GÜL, President of the Republic of Turkey
"We keep building highways, the latest example of this being the Black Sea Ring Highway. We have almost completed it in full length in Turkey. I believe it will be also completed in other regions around Black Sea. Therefore, the Silk Road will one day reach the heart of Asia as it used to. We are cooperating closely with all countries along this route and I believe that, within 10 years, probably within 5 years, we will see a full revival of the Silk Road." |
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Roland BETSCHART, Zurich Insurance Group
"Through our years of partnership with the IRU, we can see that the IRU, its members and the transport operators are not only adapting to change, but growing from strength to strength due to your capacity to change!
Change is life and Change happens! But partnership, true partnership, does not change, but grows stronger! " |
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Sébastien SCHMITT, Director General, Vialtis
"Already 25 years of privileged relationship between Vialtis and the international road transport sector! Nowadays, we are not only present in 9 countries but also in the rest of Europe especially thanks to our network of partners, like here in Turkey with the UND association, to help road hauliers every day to reduce their operating costs and to optimize their management. Vialtis intends to act like a “Europe facilitator”." |
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Nikolay GALUSHIN, First General Director, Ingosstrakh Insurance Company
"The Company Ingosstrakh was established 60 years ago in order to support the foreign trade activities of the Soviet Union and throughout its whole history it has always protected and worked for international relations in the field of trade, transport and tourism. Thus, it happens that our two organisations, the IRU and Ingosstrakh, have worked hand-in-hand for more than half-a-century contributing to the elimination of barriers to international transport and trade hence making transport more efficient and safer." |
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Presentation of the IRU Grand Prix d’honneur
"In our modern society, ordinary people still find themselves in extraordinary situations and perform heroic acts, and thanks to Mr Green’s immediate, professional and courageous intervention, young children on board a runaway bus were saved." Janusz LACNY, IRU President
"I don’t think I did anything extraordinary. But I am very glad to have prevented something worse from happening and to those children in the runaway bus." Barthel GREEN, Winner of IRU Grand Prix d'Honneur 2008 |
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| CONGRESS SESSION I |
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Road Transport, Driving Peace and Prosperity – An economic and social imperative
Subjects:
- International trade and tourism as tools of peaceful co-existence to avoid conflicts among nations and to make the world a better place to live in.
- Road transport’s indispensable role in enhancing prosperity, wealth distribution and social relations between regions and nations.
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Deunden NIKOMBORIRAK, Thailand Development Research Institute, Thailand
"As globalization gradually melts away national borders, it has delivered a global economy and society where states are intrinsically mutually dependent. It is thus most useful to exploit this deepening inter-state dependence to solicit greater cooperation and coordination in building a more efficient transportation system that could help promote peace and prosperity. There are 6 key policy challenges facing a transport policy maker in the age of globalization: which roads to build, source of financing, role of the state, opening up the market to foreign competitors, seamless delivery of services across borders and environmental issues." |
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Kenneth J. BUTTON, Professor, Director, Center for Transportation Policy, Operations and Logistics, George Mason University, US
"From the economic perspective, road transport, in the correct context, allows for the full potential of regions and cities to be developed and also to facilitate the mobility of key labor resources. This may directly mean migration, but increasingly it can mean individuals commuting longer distances as economic growth takes place. Socially, it helps keep geographically spread families in contact. Beyond the rather conventional, static economic criteria, transport also allows for the movement of ideas and the spread of “technical progress”. Ideas are at the forefront of economic development today and to prevent areas or nations lagging in this respect interpersonal communications are important. In many cases, road transport can act as a facilitation of such interactions either directly or in combination with other modes and modern telecommunications networks." |
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Jamal SAGHIR, Director, Energy, Transport and Water, World Bank
"Transport costs are a central determinant for trade and development. These, combined with trade costs, are now more important for globalization than trade policy. Actually, transport costs have less declined than perceived: distance is not dead, nor is the world flat. Transport policy has to better take up its international function in infrastructure policies and in general it has to overcome its national bias and live up to new challenges in combining with trade and competition policies." |
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Boguslaw Marian LIBERADZKI, Member of the European Parliament
"Transport, especially road transport, is a key factor in modern economies. A modern transport system must be sustainable from an economic, social and environmental point of view. The strong economic growth in the new EU Member States and better links with regions beyond EU frontiers will increase transport flows, in particular road haulage. Principal improvement should target quality in the road transport sector.
The European Commission will propose legislation allowing the harmonisation of certain clauses in transport contracts to protect carriers and enable them to revise their tariffs in the case of sharp rises in fuel prices. " |
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Abdulaziz A. Al-Ohaly, Deputy Minister for Transport, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
"Saudi Arabia would be prepared to give all the diesel fuel to all commercial trucking companies in the EU for free, IF the EU gives to Saudi Arabia half the taxes they collect on that fuel!" |
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| FRIDAY, 16 MAY 2008 |
| CONGRESS SESSION II |
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Road Transport, Driving Peace and Prosperity – How Road Transport Operators can continue to drive progress
Subjects:
- Make your road transport operations more efficient, profitable, safer and more secure!
- Road transport regulation and enforcement – Do not hinder economic growth and the distribution of wealth!
- Understand the importance of efficient logistics in production and supply chains!
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Liang QIAO, Deputy General Manager, Beijing, Xianglong Transport and Logistics Group, People's Republic of China
"The road transport industry as a basic industry and service sector in China's national economy plays an increasingly important role in the process of economic development. This sector develops from a traditional into a modern service industry. Regarding road freight transport it starts offering modern logistics services meeting the strategic needs of the national economy in a new era. Only when the enterprises make efforts to benefit from economies of scale will they achieve better efficiency and effectiveness of their internal production and marketing processes, technological and human resources, as well as enjoy advantages of the progress of science and technology, operating management methods and other aspects of cooperation, so as to ensure safe operation and service quality." |
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Cem KUMUK, CEO, EKOL Logistics, Turkey
"When tackling the issue of efficiency in the supply chain, the following aspects should duly be considered: the time factor (act rapidly to achieve higher efficiency levels), the efficiency target definition (cleaner environment, better utilisation of resources, cost reduction, meeting customer demands, etc.), the chosen method of increasing efficiency (use of modern analytical tools, technological solutions, optimisation of movements, consolidation, cost sharing, minimisation of resource use, rapidity and accuracy)." |
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Mario MELETIOU, Technical Specialist, International Labour Organization
"The right of international drivers to attain decent and productive work in conditions of human dignity is many times highly compromised at inefficient border crossings. Therefore, the ILO has a strong interest in the improvement of border crossing operations and due to its unique tripartite structure has a major role in the collective efforts that aim in upgrading border-crossing operations through social dialogue between Governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations in the road transport sector." |
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V. PRASAD CHALLAGALLA, Chairman, United Federation of Travel Agents' Associations (UFTAA)
"What is the current-day leisure traveller looking for and how the industry needs to adapt? Consumers buy goods 33% on price, 33% on brand and 33% on quality. And how does a typical leisure traveler buy? 85% he/she buys on price being hypersensitive to expenses. This creates a margin pressure for operators, whereby it is difficult to differentiate from competition. So what is the operator’s market response? It is tempted to cut price and reduce services but it will then confront with the customers who want certain value too. A dilemma to face." |
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Victor S. PARRA, President & CEO, United Motorcoach Association, USA
"There are opportunities for the US Motorcoach Industry like new and more attractions emerging that lend themselves to motorcoach travel, or more hotels and destinations building motorcoach friendly facilities. The US is more affordable than ever as the US dollar remains weak vs. most foreign currencies. Younger and more technologically savvy operators are entering the industry able to make better use of the Internet to generate business. There is the challenge and opportunity of “greening “the motorcoach industry whereby operators should promote the environmental advantages of motorcoach travel." |
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| PUBLIC MINISTERIAL SESSION ON THE REVIVAL OF THE SILK ROAD |
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Subjects:
- The Silk Road – A link between the Asian, European, CIS, Middle East, North, Central and South American economies.
- Dismantling Barriers to Trade, Tourism and Transport along the Silk Road.
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Barry CABLE, Director, Transport and Tourism Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
"The Asian Highway network was first conceived in 1959. Today, it connects 32 member countries and consists of 141,000 km of highways. It is covered by an Intergovernmental Agreement signed by 28 member States and in force since 4 July 2005. The 50th Anniversary of the Asian Highway in 2009 offers a perfect opportunity to celebrate today’s Silk Road by organising Asian Highway Truck Caravans which will demonstrate the movement of vehicles and goods across the Asian Highway Network." |
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Eva MOLNAR, Director, UNECE, on behalf of Marek BELKA, Executive Secretary, UNECE
"Transport movements between Europe and Asia today are in many places blocked by dilapidated roads, non-existing or insufficient railway links, and very often trapped by complicated border controls or stuck in congested ports. This is why the idea of a revitalisation of the Silk Road is so appealing – it is seen as necessary to improve transport connections and expected to enhance opportunities for the land-locked countries of Central Asia and Eastern Europe to reap the benefits from these improved transport connections. With this objective in mind, the Ministers of Transport and senior officials from 19 European and Asian countries including China, Iran, Russia and Turkey, signed a Joint Statement on Future Development of Euro-Asian Transport Links on 19 February 2008." |
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Renate SOMMER, Member of European Parliament (EU)
"The extension of the most important Trans-European transport axes to our neighbouring countries comprises five trans-national axes. They include a number of ancillary routes in regions which have a relatively low traffic volume due to political instability. Therefore, they aim at strengthening the regional collaboration and integration. These axes connect the European Union with Russia and the Black Sea. Moreover, the network leads from the EU to the Balkans, to Turkey, the Caucasus and via the Middle East to Egypt. Another axis connects the EU with Egypt via the Maghreb countries. The creation of a common transport market is part of the European Neighbourhood Policy which was developed with the aim of preventing the emergence of new dividing lines between the EU and its neighbours." |
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Binali YILDIRIM, Minister of Transport of Turkey
"Existing transport routes and modes between East and West are insufficient to catch up with the constant rise in trade volume. In this respect, the importance of alternative modes of transport, especially land transport means, beside maritime transport, to address the trade and transport demand which will continue to increase as a result of global economies, has been highlighted and the importance of an efficient and uninterrupted land transport corridors in this context was emphasised. " |
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Martin MARMY, IRU Secretary General
"A study conducted by the US Chamber of Commerce has proven that moving goods by road along the Silk Road is already a viable and a competitive alternative to moving goods by maritime transport, without spending one centime on additional infrastructure. But, as there are plans to spend over 20 Billion US dollars on the Asia Highway Network, this can only make the road transport alternative all the more attractive." |
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| CONGRESS CLOSING |
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Janusz LACNY, IRU President - Conclusions
"The task for all of us, including the Ministers and other public authorities present, is now to go back home and change the mindsets of those not here, including political decision makers, the media, and the public at large, and have them recognise and act in way that supports the fact that road transport drives economic, social and environmental progress everywhere!" |
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Adoption of the IRU Istanbul 2008 Declaration |
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Rifat HISARCIKLIOGLU, TOBB President, Turkey - Farewell Message
"This congress has highlighted the contribution of international road transport to world peace and the well-being of humanity, and also the need for the revival of historical Silk Road. When you go back to your countries, we expect you to be the leaders in taking the necessary steps to bring this vision to life."
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Mustafa YILDIRIM, Chairman, TOFED, Turkey - Farewell Message
"One of the missions of the IRU is to play an active role in removing difficulties, especially restrictive international regulations, public transportation is facing. Whether in Turkey or in the world, regulating transport to be more environmental friendly and to prevent wasting resources is, however, acceptable and inevitable for sustainable transport policies." |
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Tamer DİNÇŞAHİN, President, UND, Turkey - Farewell Message
This glamorous event that we have prepared since 2005 and which has been followed for the last two days by a high level of interest from all over the world, has functioned as a real platform to emphasize the significance of Turkey in the global logistics arena within the framework of the project called “Revitalization of the Ancient Silk Road”. |
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Binali YILDIRIM, Minister of Transport of Turkey - Farewell Message
"Road passenger transport in Turkey may become a model for public transport solutions through mergers and better corporate structuring of transport firms as well as the improvement of transport infrastructure (terminals, urban transport facilities, service areas, etc.). An example of new company operating structure could be the creation of a star airline-like model in coach transport operations. Maximizing customer satisfaction and improving quality without increasing costs would by all means be possible through applying modern tools of transport organization, communication and inter-company cooperation." |
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| WORKSHOPS |
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Workshop 1: How to Make Your Road Freight Transport Operations More Profitable? |
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Subjects:
- Serve your Customer!
- Focus on Quality, Efficiency & Profitability!
- Select your Business Model!
- Drive Down your Costs!
- How to Negotiate Good Rates?
- Invoice all your Costs!
- Have your VAT Reimbursed!
- Network to find your partners!
- Apply new Technology and Logistic Solutions!
- Buy or Lease?
- New Eurasian Land Transport Initiative (NELTI)
- Trucking Interconnecting Regions along the Silk Road!
- Long Distance Trucking in the USA
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Adalbert WANDT, Wandt Spedition Transportberatung GmbH, Germany
"Our client contacts are partner contacts conducted through mutual respect. We should provide the client with clear benefits, therefore we should think as the client thinks. The key word is: reliability. We take care of these contacts in various ways, including joint social events for clients to win their full understanding also for our concerns and motivations." |
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Serik SARSENBAYEV, Director, “CB” LLP transport company, Kazakhstan
"How can we increase profitability of road transport operations? Most importantly by meeting the clients’ demands. But how? By an efficient delivery of the cargo, in a timely manner, from door to door, in perfect state of the delivered goods and for an appropriate freight rate. It is to be taken into account that rail tariffs have increased since the year 2000 by more than 94.4% and that 82% of all goods is carried on the roads. It is obvious that in such a situation the client is looking for a “cheap” transport operator. For us this means that we must reduce our operational costs." |
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Ray KUNTZ, Chairman, American Trucking Association, USA
"You must know your customer and their needs (example: carpet and furniture shippers). To meet these needs you must have properly specified trucks & trailers, well trained driver force (ongoing safety training & driving habits) and up-to-date technology, like on board communication, trailer tracking, on line computer tracking. The key word is optimization which concerns fuel, routing and load planning. Proper billing and information transfer is part of the game including smooth claims handling (prevention, proper equipment for Customs) if need be." |
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Sadık BAYDERE, Business Development Director and Board Member, Barsan Logistics, Turkey
"Regarding
marketing, we want to have customers who prefer “us”, are satisfied
with “us”, choose “us” again, recommend “us” and are an advocate of
“us”. We know that winning a new customer is five times more costly
than maintaining the existing customer. As to costs, one fifth of the
transport costs consist of fuel costs. Actually, while increases in the
price of fuel in sea and air transport can be transposed to the
customers through certain methods, the non-existence of such a
mechanism in road transport is unacceptable." |
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Workshop 2: How to Make Your Bus/Coach/Taxi Operations More Profitable? |
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Subjects:
- Serve your Customer!
- Drive down your Costs!
- How to Negotiate Good Rates?
- Invoice all your Costs!
- Have your VAT Reimbursed!
- Network to find your partners!
- Apply new Technology and Travel Solutions!
- Buy or Lease?
- Regular Bus Services - Quality Travel for all!
- Coach Tourism, the Efficient & Customer-orientated Alternative!
- Taxis, a Door-to-Door Solution for Urban Mobility!
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Mustafa Yildirim,President, Turkish Bus Fleet Operators' Federation (TOFED), Turkey
"Road passenger transport in Turkey may become a model for public transport solutions through mergers and better corporate structuring of transport firms as well as the improvement of transport infrastructure (terminals, urban transport facilities, service areas, etc.). An example of new company operating structure could be the creation of a star airline-like model in coach transport operations. Maximizing customer satisfaction and improving quality without increasing costs would by all means be possible through applying modern tools of transport organization, communication and inter-company cooperation."
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Vyacheslav Mihailovich MARTYNENKO, General Director, Primoravtotrans, Russian Federation
"The development of cross-border trade and personal mobility between Russia and China has contributed to an important increase of international coach transport operations between these countries since the mid-nineties. In total, more than 2.4 million passengers a year are transported between Russia and China which is about 20% of all international passenger transport by coach between Russia and all other third countries. In the period between 1993 and 2007, the flow of passengers in the two directions increased more than 80 times. Most passengers are carried on 11 international regular coach lines." |
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Giles FEARNLEY, CEO, Blazefield Holdings Ltd, UK
"Scheduled bus services play an increasingly important role not just in towns and cities but in rural areas as well as providing valuable inter-city links. The significant competitor is the car. If the bus is to attract car users, they need to be convinced that the service is reliable, frequent and of a quality that they are comfortable with. This needs to cover all facets of the journey experience including information, bus stop environment, the vehicle itself, the driver, the fare, the punctuality, reliability and frequency of the service." |
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Yongli WANG, President, National Express Group, Peoples Republic of China
"Seven years ago when it was created, the National Express Group set an objective of becoming number one of road transport enterprises in China and establishing a national network with focus on inter-provincial passenger road transport. By now, the National Express Group has established 60 branches in 14 provinces/cities, with nearly 6 000 vehicles operating on more than 1 000 lines. It has established a road transport network covering East and Middle China and built a large-scale modern road transport enterprise based on the foundations of a traditional industry. The enterprise should improve service quality, transport safety and profits to realize the maximum social and enterprise values."
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Brian HUNT, President, American Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association, USA
"Since wages are low and bids are competitive, it is imperative that the workplace be somewhere people like to be and managers have good personal relations with the drivers. Without these attributes, companies have an impossible time finding qualified drivers leaving service standards unmet. Because of the low wages and inconvenient driver schedules, the best practice of a happy work place gives you an edge on the competition.
Fuel costs have doubled in the US over the last two years, and even though not as high as European fuel, have increased our cost and thus lowered quality of service. It is a best practice to have a fuel clause in a contract to pass the increase along to the client." |
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Contact
IRU’s Communications Department is always pleased to respond to requests. For further information, pictures, interviews with IRU experts, attendance to IRU’s events or all other inquiries, do not hesitate to contact:
Juliette Ebélé
Head of Communications
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