On 27 November 2024, the Second Ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends of Sustainable Transport was held at the Archabil Hotel in Ashgabat in the framework of the International Conference and Exhibition “International Transport and Transit Corridors: Interconnectivity and Development – 2024”.

The meeting was attended by heads and representatives of relevant ministries and transport agencies of Turkmenistan, as well as foreign Member Countries of the Group of Friends for Sustainable Transport, international and regional organizations, in particular specialized UN structures, leadership and representatives of diplomatic missions of the Group’s Member Countries, transport sector experts, as well as the media.

The meeting was opened by the Director General of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers M.Chakyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan A.Gurbanov, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Turkmenistan Qian Naicheng, Regional Director of the United Nations Development Coordination Office (UNDCO) for Europe and Central Asia Ms. Gwi-Yeop Son and Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Lin Yang.

During the meeting, the sides discussed ways of further improvement of the work of the Group of Friends for Sustainable Transport, including the development of new effective solutions for the sustainable development of transport systems on global level.

The subject of accepting new Member Countries that have expressed their willingness to join the Group of Friends for Sustainable Transport was considered.

According to the agenda of the meeting, the participants discussed the implementation of the tasks set out in the resolutions on sustainable transport initiated by Turkmenistan and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2023.

During the meeting, participants discussed opportunities for the development of sustainable transport systems on the global and regional levels and emphasized the necessity to consolidate efforts in preparation for the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport (2026-2035).

The participants noted the need to further improve the Group’s activities and combine efforts to overcome challenges in the transport and logistics sector, including ways to minimize regional and global barriers in this sector, as well as to promote UN Member States’ initiatives in the field of transport development.

Upon the results of the Second Ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends for Sustainable Transport, Final Declaration was adopted.