Skip to main content

Transport Ministers from 53 countries meet for global summit

Transport Ministers from the 53 member countries of the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD gather in Leipzig, Germany, today for a three-day summit on the future of global mobility. The 2012 summit is headlined ‘Seamless Transport: Making Connections’ and will ask how better connectivity can improve lives and stimulate the economy. Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), will be the keynote speaker on 3 May.
May 2, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSSTransport Ministers from the 53 member countries of the 998 International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD gather in Leipzig, Germany, today for a three-day summit on the future of global mobility.

The 2012 summit is headlined ‘Seamless Transport: Making Connections’ and will ask how better connectivity can improve lives and stimulate the economy. Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the 5342 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), will be the keynote speaker on 3 May.

Gurría will also be presenting the Forum’s 2012 Transport Outlook. Issues for discussion include:

  • Rethinking the Last Mile: What new approaches exist for freight delivery in cities?
  • The Future of Travel: How does e-Ticketing, smart-phone use and data sharing change mobility?
  • Facilitating global trade: Connectivity across borders
  • Transport for Growth: Can better connectivity stimulate economic activity?
  • Smart Grids: How to power the e-mobility future?
  • Collaboration in connectivity: Achieving seamless transport between cities and regions

The event includes a Ministerial meeting, panel discussions with leaders from business, research and civil society as well as bilateral and informal meetings. For the first time, the Ministers’ meeting will be partly open to the media.

“Connectivity is a 21st century megatrend”, said Michael Kloth, acting secretary-general of the ITF. “The digital revolution has made it easier to link up, but people and markets also long to be better connected in physical ways.”

“Enabling transport to become more seamless – between modes and systems, across borders, regulatory frameworks and ownership structures – will stimulate creativity, set free resources, help economic growth and provide better solutions for transport users,” said Kloth.

Related Content

  • Siemens wins EV charging contract in Portugal
    April 17, 2012
    As part of Portugal's programme to promote electromobility (Mobi.e), Siemens Portugal has concluded a framework agreement for up to 300 charging points. A binding order for 100 of these charging points was placed by Intelli, the coordinator of the Mobi.e programme. Intelli intends to install the charging points in 25 cities by 2012.
  • New head for transport body
    April 17, 2012
    Carole Coune has now taken over as secretary general of the International Transport Forum at the OECD. Coune, a Belgian national, takes over from Jack Short, who is retiring, as leader of the Paris-based intergovernmental organisation which brings together 52 nations from around the globe.
  • Report on the impact of recession on infrastructure funding worldwide
    May 10, 2012
    A new report examines how aggressive government belt-tightening and financial market deleveraging restrained worldwide infrastructure investments for 2012 and probably for the next five years. In the US, for instance, Infrastructure2012: Spotlight on Leadership, released by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young, says that constrained public budgets and a growing recognition at the local level of the importance of infrastructure, combined with lack of action at the federal level, are causing state
  • PTV calls for guidelines on secure data exchange
    May 23, 2014
    At this year's annual summit of the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, German PTV Group called on lawmakers to establish the rules and guidelines required to ensure open, standardised and secure data exchange. The company claims that the legal issues relating to the ever increasing amount of data available have to be resolved soon to will allow industry partners to launch new applications that solve transport-related issues in a more efficient manner. As a representative of the IT industry and OE