On February 22, 2018, at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, during the 80th session of the Inland Transport Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Turkmenistan was elected a member of the Bureau of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee for the period 2019-2020.
The Inland Transport Committee (ITC) is the highest policy-making body of the UNECE in the field of transport. Together with its subsidiary bodies, the ITC has provided a pan-European intergovernmental forum, where UNECE member countries come together to forge tools for economic cooperation and negotiate and adopt international legal instruments on inland transport. These legal instruments are considered indispensable for developing efficient, harmonized and integrated, safe and sustainable pan-European transport systems.
The main functions of the ITC Bureau are to monitor and ensure the implementation of the work program, decisions and recommendations during the intersessional period of the Inland Transport Committee, ensure the effective work during sessions, in full compliance with their respective rules of procedure, taking into account the guidelines, agreement on decisions and recommendations.
The election of Turkmenistan in this important UN structure in the first year since the adoption on 20 December 2017 of the UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/72/212 «Strengthening the links between all modes of transport to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals» is a testament to the high confidence of the international community Turkmenistan's initiatives in the field of transport diplomacy, put forward by the President of Turkmenistan. Symbolical is the fact that Turkmenistan became a member of the ITC Bureau in 2018, which was declared in the country as the year of «Turkmenistan - the heart of the Great Silk Road».
