Second Expert Group Meeting and Capacity Building Workshop on Digital Transformation of Railway and Multimodal Transport in North and Central Asia

Reliable integrated transport networks are essential to the development of economies and vital to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific. They drive the trade, investment and growth which is especially important for landlocked developing countries. But the challenge is to make them accessible, safe and sustainable.

In this context, the ESCAP secretariat is implementing a project on “New technologies and digital transformation in support of more resilient and competitive railway operations in North and Central Asia”.

The main objective of the project is to assist participating member States in reducing inefficiencies which impede cross-border railways transport operations, introduce advanced solutions of rail and multimodal transport operations involving railway transport, which could contribute to increase of railways’ share in the international transport of goods. The project also aims at improving resilience of transport networks and operations to disruptive developments in North and Central Asia.

The first Expert Meeting on Digital Transformation of Railway and Multimodal Transport in North and Central Asia  organized under the project and held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 2 November 2022, noted the importance of involvement of representatives of different government authorities involved into digital development of railway and multimodal transport in their respective countries, including authorities in charge of transport, customs and digital development in their respective countries, as well as of representatives of railway authorities and operators and noted that establishment of an expert group comprise of such representatives at ESCAP’s platform would be highly desirable.  In this connection, the Meeting requested the secretariat to organize an additional expert meeting in the first half of 2023 that would:

• Discuss priority areas of cooperation on digital transformation of railway and multimodal transport that should lay down the foundation for policy recommendations in this field to be further developed by the ESCAP secretariat;
• Discuss feasibility of set up a sub-regional network of experts on digital transformation and use of new technologies on the basis of the expert group.

The Expert Group Meeting will be followed by the Capacity Building Workshop on Digital Transformation in North and Central Asia that will:

• Inform of available policies and good practices on digital transformation of transport in theAsia-Pacific Region;
• Discuss the development of a capacity-building programme in this area for the countries of North and Central Asia;

Representatives of different government authorities involved into digital development of railway and multimodal transport in their respective countries, including authorities in charge of transport, customs and digital development, as well as of transport industry associations and companies from the countries participating in the project are encouraged to join both Expert Group Meeting and Capacity Building Workshop.

There will be options available to attend these events either in-person or by videoconferencing.

Should you require additional information, please contact Mr. Fedor Kormilitsyn at [email protected]