Road Programmes
IRF has a number of road programmes which aim to concentrate the attention of the international community on particular regions. Since the later 1990s the IRF has had a programme aimed at the rehabilitation of the ancient Silk Roads across central Asia. The third Silk Road conference was held in Xi’an China in October 2004. It was attended by over 700 delegates, including 12 ministers from the region shown here at the ministerial session.
More recently, in May 2007, the IRF organised the 1st Black Sea and 4th Silk Road Conference, where the importance of Euro-Asian links was emphasised.
The IRF has been devoting particular attention to the region of South East Europe. In the late 90s, we launched the South East Europe Programme to help countries of the region develop their road infrastructure following the destructive civil war earlier in the decade. The first South East Europe Conference was held in Sofia in 2000, the 2nd – in Bucharest in 2001, the 3rd – in Belgrade in 2002 and the 4th – in Dubrovnik in 2005, attended by 350 delegates including 7 ministers. The 4th Congress held in Dubrovnik, which concluded the programme, was devoted to the complex analysis of road traffic infrastructure in South East Europe, through six working sessions dealing with specific relevant issues. In particular: coordinated organisation and operational planning of a core traffic network in South East Europe, setting up a realistic financial framework and guidelines for implementation of PPP projects. There was also a session devoted to the Adriatic-Ionian corridor and highway, as well as to road maintenance and road safety.
The IRF aims to focus its attention on the needs of the Mediterranean
Region. The IRF brings to this region personalized training seminars
and regional conferences. A particular attention is paid to the
collection of data, as the IRF is part of the group of experts at
MEDSTAT.
In collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Africa and other
international agencies, the IRF supports the Trans-African Highway
Network. The African continent faces a number of challenges. The IRF
gives help and input into PPP, road safety, statistical data collection
and training.
