---

Poland at the crossroads of transcontinental transportation routes

Speech by Jerzy Polaczek
Minister of Transport for the Republic of Poland

Honourable Ministers and dear guests,

With great pleasure I wish to warmly welcome our honourable guests to the 4th Euro-Asia Road Transport Conference in Warsaw. Thank you very much for accepting the invitation to participate in this conference. With satisfaction I’d like to stress the fact that after Irkutsk, Teheran and Beijing also Warsaw received the honour to host the participants of such an important event. In particular, I welcome Ministers and Vice-Ministers, as well as delegates from the Ministries of Transport. I also welcome the authorities from the International Road Transport Union and representatives of the International Road Carriers in Poland, and also all of the remaining participants.

The International Road Transport Union is made up of Members from the entire world plays an increasing role in the development of transportation connections between Europe and Asia. The conference in Warsaw constitutes one of the most important forums, during which we may discuss this matter on a governmental level and try to find the right answers to questions concerning the process of European-Asian transit development.

I have great hope that the initiative of organising this transportation conference in Warsaw will allow us to constructively discuss the practical possibilities of development in transportation between Europe and Asia. Warsaw, because of its geographic location at the crossroads of key transportation routes connecting the East with the West, is seen by the Polish Government as the appropriate place to make important decisions regarding the manner of conducting international policies in the sphere of transport.

In the framework of economic cooperation, transportation constitutes one of the most important elements that should be taken into consideration. The potential of further economic development in Asian and European countries and with this further growth in trade, demanding the dynamic growth of transportation, is enormous.

I believe that we can manage this challenge and accept solutions allowing us to establish an effective and convenient transit connection between the Far East, The Middle East and Europe. These solutions should not only help economic development in our countries, but also facilitate the transfer of new technologies and influence raising the quality of transportation services. Currently the majority of trade between the Far East and Europe occurs through water transport wherein the destination ports are the largest ports in Western European seas. Their capacity from the viewpoint of the growing amount of traffic is limited however. That is why it is necessary to find alternatives for this kind of transport serving European-Asian transit. I would like to point out that the duration of land transport from Chinese or Korean ports to Western Europe is half of the time compared to sea transport.

Dear guests,

Poland is very interested in the development of European-Asian transit connections, as two important pan-European transport corridors run through our territory, mainly speaking Corridors II and III. These transportation routes have become an integral part of the Euro-Asian Transport Linkages, meaning that their role in serving East-West transit traffic on the European continent is crucial. They are the shortest land connections from Asia to Europe and potentially could serve at least part of the growing flows of transportation in the future. Poland is obviously aware of the infrastructural needs of these routes. That is why the modernisation of the main transportation connections along these corridors is one Poland’s priorities in the coming years.

I have deep hope also that the joint organisation of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship by Poland and Ukraine will bring benefits for the development of land transport in the framework of European-Asian transportation routes. I am convinced that cooperation of Poland and Ukraine in this sphere in the wider international range will make this region of Europe friendly and convenient for land transportation in the East-West Linkages.

The government of the Republic of Poland sees as their priority that all Polish sections included in the Trans-European Transport Network be adapted to high technical parameters. Every year the total length of highways and express roads in Poland gradually increases for the purpose of obtaining a Polish transportation network linked up with the infrastructure of seven neighboring countries.

Simultaneously, constructing city bypasses and the process of separating transit traffic from local traffic increases safety on the roads and increases the level of comfort for travelers.

Special attention should be directed to implementing the tasks in the framework of the Operational Program “Infrastructure and Environment” for the years 2007-2013. Thanks to membership in the European Union the Polish transportation sector will receive in the course of seven years 19 billion Euros from EU funds. This fact permits Poland to make a big step forward in the sphere of transportation infrastructure in the process of obtaining economic cohesion with the other member states of the European Union.

Creating alternative routes to sea connections in the form of land routes between Europe and Asia constitutes a real challenge for all the parties involved. That is why we accept with great satisfaction all effort undertaken in this sphere by various international institutions, in particular the Euro-Asian Transport Ministerial Conference, The European Economic Commission of the United Nations and the European Commission. Poland supports United Nations efforts aimed at creating a Strategic Vision for the Development of Euro-Asian Transport Links. Also the work of two High Level Groups under the auspices of the European Commission concerning the basic transportation linkage between the European Union and neighboring countries could be very helpful for the further development of the Euro-Asian transport linkage.

Growing land transport between Europe and Asia, as well as the promising perspective of economic development in the Far East, the Community of Independent States and with countries in regions of Central and Eastern Europe and the extension of the European Union to the East creates the circumstances to consider the possibilities of conducting in the future joint Euro-Asian transport policies.

We appreciate the role that the International Road Transport Union can play in this matter. That is why I highly honour all its Members for their work in this sphere.

Once again I warmly welcome everyone in Warsaw and I wish you a productive conference.

Thank you for your attention.

See the Powerpoint presentation

[ top ]