Public Ministerial Session
on the
Revival of the Silk Road

Martin Marmy
IRU Secretary General

Excellencies, distinguished Guests, IRU Members, ladies and gentlemen, dear Friends,

The IRU participation in this public Ministerial session is confirmation of the validity of the IRU slogan that we need to “work together for a better future.”

I am delighted that there is a growing understanding amongst the honourable Ministers present here today of the increasing need for governments and the private sector to work hand-in-hand, in a true public-private partnership, to promote road transport, not only along the revitalized Silk Road, but everywhere! It is only by doing so that we will permit our industry to continue driving economic, social and environmental progress, and that we will, by working together, continue driving peace and prosperity!

Friends, we should realise that “Change is life” and the major change resulting from increased competition, due to the liberalisation of economies and globalisation of markets, has created a new and dynamic economy everywhere, based on the free movement of people, goods, services and capital.

In the last few years, numerous countries, in particular in this region, have been efficiently and increasingly participating in global trade.

Two thirds of the world’s population are not only living on the Euro-Asian landmass, but are also above all working, producing, trading and transporting between them and with the rest of the world.
If the challenges to overcome are numerous, by facilitating relations between trading partners, by better integrating the various economies of this vast region with those of other regions, there is also an infinite number of new opportunities to be seized.

Why do we accept that today, less than 1% of trade between European and Asian countries is carried by land through countries which were, in earlier days, at the heart of world exchange? The reality is that the importance of road transport, at the service of trade, with the new emerging powers of Asia and the Middle East, has been grossly underestimated, in particular by European countries.

A recent study conducted by the US Chamber of Commerce has proven that road transport, along the Silk Road, is already a viable and a competitive alternative to moving goods 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.

Today, 75% of retail goods are produced in Asia, in particular in China, and most of them are transported mainly by sea container. This development of container transport has had a dramatic impact not only on transportation but, more importantly, on the economic development of numerous countries.

Containerisation started in the 1970s with a high number of ports linked by a high number of small container vessels.

Since then, the growth of containerisation, fuelled by globalisation, has exploded.

The green dots on the following slides are proportional to the evolution of container volumes in ports at ten-year intervals.

This explosion of containerisation is clearly demonstrated. In fact, we can see that larger and larger vessels are supplying fewer and fewer ports, as was the case, in the 1980s and in the 1990s. In 2000, the same trend continued at an even higher speed, mainly in Asian ports.

The 2006 slide not only confirms this explosion of containerisation, it also shows that 75% of current global trade is concentrated in only a few ports, creating not only bottlenecks, congestion, delays and additional costs, but above all a severe desertification of the hinterland of all the landlocked countries.

By comparison, no country is landlocked for road transport. On the one hand, road transport is the only mode capable of transporting goods from China to Europe, following the paths of the ancient Silk Road. On the other hand, due to its unique door-to-door service, road transport is the only transport mode able to interconnect all the businesses along all the roads from Asia to the main world markets, such as to Europe, to the CIS, to the Middle East and even to the USA, through the Black Sea.

Taking into account the vital and irreplaceable role of road transport, which is everywhere, always at the disposal of everyone; taking into account also that no country is landlocked for road transport; and considering that 85% of road transport is under 150 km, priority should be given by governments to its effective promotion by further developing, facilitating and securing this motor of the economy.

In this framework, allow me to ask the support of each of the Ministers and public authorities here today to promote road transport by adhering to and strictly applying all the key facilitation instruments such as the WTO, UNECE and ECMT agreements, as recommended by the UNESCAP, UNESCWA, and UNECE. In fact, everybody needs effective door-to-door road transport because any penalty on road transport is an even bigger penalty on the economy as a whole.

This is why you should help me to help you!

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To conclude, allow me to show you a short video film prepared jointly by the IRU and the UNESCAP on the future Asian Highway Truck Caravan, which describes the role of the road transport industry. This Caravan is the latest initiative of the road transport industry, following our Lisbon to Vladivostok, Beijing to Brussels, and Black sea ring highway caravans, and our New Land Transport Initiative (NELTI), to make known that road transport is driving peace and prosperity everywhere!

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We are ready to work together. Alone we can do nothing!

JOIN US!

Watch the Powerpoint presentation

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