Western Balkans Transport Community Treaty signed – Aiming for unified market and improved infrastructure

The summit of the leaders of the Western Balkans in Trieste, organized as part of the Berlin Process, ended on Wednesday, July 12, 2017, by the signing of the Western Balkans Transport Community Treaty, reports the website of the Government of Serbia.

The main message of the summit was the strengthening of regional cooperation, that is, connection as the key element towards stepping up the European integration processes of the region and strengthening the economic cooperation, primarily in the sectors of small and medium enterprises, IT and science.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic said that the Treaty was a great opportunity for all the countries-signees and a chance to enhance investments in the transport infrastructure and create a unified market, but also to raise the degree of safety in traffic, and added that Serbia was quite dedicated to it.

She said that the infrastructure was developed to various degrees in various countries, primarily regarding roads and railways, while, on the other hand, the goal was the same – a better standard of living.

– For this reason, it is important to develop the infrastructure and connect with the region. Together, we must see how to implement the EU laws in this field and become a competitive transport market and to invest more in infrastructure. This is a great opportunity for all of us, a chance to enhance investments in the transport infrastructure and create a unified market – Mihajlovic said and repeated that non-physical barriers and delays in goods transport at border crossings were a problem that needed to be addressed.

She emphasized at the meeting that, in order to carry out the Treaty, it was important to form a secretariat of the Transport Community and said that she expected the countries of the region to support Serbia as the country in which the seat of that body was to be located.

European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc, who attended the meeting, pointed out that, after the signing of the treaty, the transport infrastructure needed to be developed further, but also pointed to the importance of road safety. Bulc proposed the formation of working groups which would deal with the most important issues within the treaty.

Ministers of the region agreed that it was necessary to work on infrastructural projects, to build and maintain roads, as it meant a greater degree of safety for drivers as well, says the press release by the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure.

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Bruxelles

Vlada Republike Srbije

Western Balkans Summit Trieste

Berlin Process

Transport Community Treaty

Western Balkans

Zorana Mihajlovic

transport infrastructure

traffic safety

secretariat of the Transport Community

Violeta Bulc

Western Balkans Transport Community