Statement of the ECO Deputy Secretary General in the National Capacity Building Workshop on the TIR Convention in Pakistan (Islamabad-Lahore-Karachi, 18, 20 and 22 August 2014)

His Excellency Mr. Muhammad Shehzad Arbab (For Islamabad) Honorable Secretary of Commerce of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Distinguished delegation of IRU, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is indeed a great privilege for me to welcome all of you in this National Capacity Building Workshop on TIR Convention being held in Pakistan, the prosperity of which has been the main incentive and driver behind all preparations made at national and international levels by all of us. I am grateful to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in particular, the Ministry of Commerce, for offering us this opportunity and for the invaluable support provided by the International Road Union (IRU).

I am also glad to see the broad participation from ACCI, USAID, Ministry of Communication, Customs, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Pakistan as well as other stakeholder such as Transporters, Pakistan Freight Forwarders’ and other Association. Such level of participation and active contributions to the discussions is taken as good omen which would ensure the success of our workshop.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Having had the advantage of holding the highest post in the ECO by my beloved home country, Pakistan, I was in a position to perceive and acknowledge the multi-faceted benefits consequent upon accession of TIR Convention for the acceding States and decided to turn the regret resulting from Pakistan being the missing link in the TIR network and the accession chain into an opportunity for my country.

Being quite familiar with the historical impediments associated with and contributing to non- accession of Pakistan and their implications for decision-making bodies of my country, I was convinced that a special effort and an exceptional arrangement should be devised and tailored to the specific needs and situation of Pakistan and I was honored to follow this course of thought by offering what I had in my power as Deputy Secretary- General of ECO through a range of negotiations being held in the course of my missions to related international meetings, particularly the ones made with the most relevant international organization namely IRU which is today administering the only existing and well functioning guaranteeing chain of TIR Convention, and efficiently representing the interests of road transport operators world-wide.

The IRU responded positively to my request for a preferential treatment towards Pakistan case and hold an exceptionally broad-based process covering three major cities enabling the broadest 1 nationwide coverage of awareness-raising with regard to benefits of acceding to the TIR and addressing questions which might occur to stake holders’ mind.

Excellencies, I’m pleased to state that this workshop reflects our collective effort to develop a better understanding of the benefits which Pakistan may accrue through participating in the TIR System and ways and means to implement TIR in the country. I am sure that this workshop will also be successful in generating the desired amount of interest among all the stakeholders and for them to further guide their agencies in formulating effective and practical steps towards implementation of TIR convention in Pakistan. I am sure this workshop will contribute to integration of Pakistan into regional and international transit transport system.

My competent colleagues representing IRU are quite acquainted with the particularity of Pakistani case including the concerns associated with security aspects of accession for Pakistan and will provide you with a range of clarifying inputs which shall hopefully serve as an insight taking care of your concerns.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me shed some light on the very relevance of the ECO with the subject under consideration in this workshop. ECO is a region of immense potential consisting of ten member countries with 430 million population and covering eight million km2 land area and attaches high importance to interconnecting the member states of the region to neighboring and distant regions and accordingly attaches great importance to seamless connectivity including through accession to TIR Convention. Among major initiatives is the “ECO Silk Road Truck Caravan” successfully implemented in 2010 in partnership with IRU. The caravan covered about 12,000 km during 25 days across Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey and provided opportunity to make observations and estimate the role of the road transport to interconnect remote markets, identify main physical and non-physical barriers, and promote implementation of international trade and road transport facilitation instruments. Among the outcomes, there was evident acknowledgement with regard to the dire need to a coordinated seamless custom transit mechanism which would serve saving a considerable amount of cost and time justifying inter alia the relevance of acceding to the TIR Convention for the region.

Distinguished delegates,

Being inspired by the successful completion of the Caravan, we have identified two road transport corridors: Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) and the Kyrgyz Republic-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Iran (KTAI).

This year we have planned to launch the test run of trucks along ITI Road Corridor, with the assistance of IRU, to examine the challenges and opportunities for seamless transit transport across this Corridor. We hope that Pakistani trucks will be able to move under cover of the TIR Convention.

2 This needs urgent measures to be taken by the Government of Pakistan for implementation of the TIR Convention through establishment of necessary infrastructure for issuance of TIR Carnets.

Please also let me inform you that ECO in partnership with IRU is organizing the 3 rd Regional Conference on the TIR Convention on 15 September 2014 in Tehran.

Further to the practice of the previous meetings, held in 2011 and 2012 in Istanbul, the meeting will address issues associated running with this globally recognized instrument for the interests of the member states and the region. We have fervent hope that Pakistan will be there providing the Conference with positive feedbacks on its accession to the TIR Convention.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to conclude that I am sure that this workshop will serve as a practical in providing comprehensive information to the public and private sectors about the indisputable role of TIR system in the international road transport and the ways Pakistan may benefit from it.

I am confident that this workshop will provide assistance to Government of Pakistan to end the impasse Pakistan Government will finalize all formalities needed to accede to the TIR Convention at the earliest which will open new opportunities for enhancing trade flows with its regional and other potential partners by road.

In conclusion, Excellencies, I reiterate my thanks and appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce of the Pakistan and NTTFC for facilitating ECO and IRU in organizing this important workshop. I must also thank IRU delegation for providing necessary men and material support for organizing the workshops in Pakistan. I wish all the distinguished delegates complete success.

I thank you.

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