DONORS’ COORDINATION MEETING ON TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS

/ARKA/
May 14, 2010
YEREVAN

The World Bank hosted the Fourth Donors’ Coordination Meeting on
Transport Perspectives in the South Caucasus on May 12-13, 2010 in
Tbilisi, Georgia, World Bank said in a press release. The participants
of the Meeting were government officials from the three South Caucasus
countries, as well as of all the donors involved in the transport
sector (EU, EBRD, Council of Europe, BSTDB, EIB, KFW, ADB, JICA, MCC,
OSCE, WB).

The Armenian delegation was headed by Minister of Transport and
Communication Manuk Vardanyan, the Azerbaijani delegation was headed
by Musa Panahov, Deputy Minister of Transport. Georgian Minister for
Infrastructure and Regional Development Davit Tkeshelashvili led the
Georgian Government delegation.

"Today’s donor meeting is very important for Georgia and for all
participating parties as it is a step forward for coordinated
cooperation between the governments of the South Caucasus
countries and International Financial Institutions in the transport
development sphere," said Davit Tkeshelashvili, Georgian Minister
for Infrastructure and Regional Development.

Similar to the three previous Coordination Meetings held in Paris,
the overall objective of the meeting was to encourage better donor
coordination in the transport sector in the South Caucasus, share
views among donors on the current state of the transport sector and
related policy matters, and discuss issues and strategy going forward
with the governments of the three countries.

"The objective of this particular meeting was to maximize development
impact of donor programs through their better alignment with respective
national programs and strengthened donor coordination. It provided
an opportunity for the top government officials in this particular
sector to present their national programs, clarify investment needs
and promote new project ideas for donor support," said Asad Alam,
World Bank Country Director for the South Caucasus.

Presentations were made by the respective government representatives
on Transport Program and Strategy in their countries. Each donor
also presented their country programs and the alignment with the
Government needs. The meeting was also an opportunity to share best
international practices and this year’s presentations focused on Road
Maintenance Funding and Organization and Road Construction Quality
Assurance issues.

"This meeting is extremely useful for Armenia, as it offers a chance
to seek regional possibilities, as well as to know what each of
our countries is doing in the transport sphere. We hope that our
cooperation in this area will continue", said Manuk Vardanyan,
Minister of Transport and Communication of Armenia.

"Development of international transport corridors and integration
with European and Asian structures is of particular importance under
current circumstances. This meeting allows the participating countries
and donors to exchange views on these and other issues of common
interest, and discuss further cooperation in the transport sector,"
said Musa Panahov, Deputy Minister of Transport of Azerbaijan.

During discussions, Donors agreed that transport investments are
important for the three South Caucasus countries for their medium
and long term competitiveness and overall development. Efficiency
and sustainability of investments were essential for lasting results.

Participants agreed that the meeting was important in better addressing
the very large investment needs in the South Caucasus transport
sector.