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CEI: Strategic Player for Corridor V

“There is a strong need to reinforce institutional and technical co-operation in order to speed up the actual realisation of this Corridor by improving the cross border connections and concentrating funds on clear priorities” said CEI Alternate Secretary General, Giorgio Rosso Cicogna on the occasion of the Conference “Pan-European Intermodal Corridors: an Opportunity to Kick – start the Economic Growth”, organised  by the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Hungary on 2 October, 2012 in Budapest. He also emphasised the role of the CEI and its contribution to the development of this important Corridor through “constant institutional activities among its Member States and through the role of Coordinator of a large number of transport authorities in EU-funded projects such as SEETAC and ADRIA A”.

The conference in Budapest  witnessed the participation of Italian, Hungarian, Slovenian Authorities, Rail operators, the European Commission, the EBRD, the EIB, private banks, representatives of the business community as well as the European Co-ordinator of Priority project n°6 (PP6),  Hon. Laurens Jan Brinckhorst. Great attention was paid to the re-launch of the implementation of the rail sections Corridor 5/PP6 especially from Trieste to  Ljubljana, Budapest and Ukraine/Russia. The authorities confirmed that - under the current economic circumstances  - Corridor V would represent a vehicle for economic growth and East-West regional integration by increasing the trade volume and unlocking market opportunities along its path. The extension to Russia was also highlighted for its favourable outcomes  in terms of trade volume.

Rosso Cicogna also pointed out the need of a stronger integration especially in relation to the newly approved EU strategy for the Danube region in which the CEI intends to actively co-operate within the Steering group as positively done in the field of Science & Research.   Carlo Fortuna, CEI transport focal point, in describing the results of CEI-EU funded projects SEETAC and ADRIA A, highlighted that “in the light of TEN T revision and the advantages of the inclusion of the Western Balkans in the European network: efficiency, credibility and coordination should be the master words for the EU and non EU Member States when approaching the actual implementation of their sections”. According to these studies, Fortuna added, “an enforced co-ordination between national and EU policies towards a stronger development of multimodality between rail and the Adriatic ports are urgently needed, as they can be the key element for generating new traffic and attract investments on Corridor V”.   Participants were informed on the recent approval - within the South East Europe programme - of another CEI led transport project named ACROSEE which focuses on the solution of cross borders sections. “This important result has been achieved through an active cooperation with European Commission Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) and Directorate-General for Regional Policy (DG REGIO)”, concluded Rosso Cicogna.   For more information: fortuna@cei.int

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