Regional meeting in Beirut

CETMO participates in Regional Meeting in Beirut on Transport Corridors in Arab Region

• CETMO gave a presentation on the Trans-Maghreb Multimodal Corridor at the meeting organized by the United Nations Commission for Western Asia and the Islamic Development Bank
• While in Beirut, CETMO representatives also attended a work meeting organized by the United Nations on the creation of an international transport infrastructure observatory

As a key stakeholder regarding transport in the Mediterranean, CETMO participated in the regional meeting on 23 April 2018 on transport corridors in the Arab region. The meeting was held in Beirut (Lebanon) and organized by the United Nations Social and Economic Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Islamic Investment Bank.

The aim of the meeting was to move towards a common strategic vision of the development of a multimodal transport network in the Arab region. Within this context, CETMO gave a presentation on the current situation of the GTMO 5+5 core network and the Trans-Maghreb Multimodal Corridor, and highlighted the following points (2016 data):

• The core road network: consists of 21,880 km, of which 13,844 km are completed, 5,348 km need improvements to adapt to minimum requirements, and 2,688 km are in the planning stage.
• The core passenger rail network: consists of 7,584 km, including high-speed and conventional lines, of which 794 km are completed, 1,251 km need improvements to adapt to minimum requirements, and 5,539 km are in the planning stage.
• The core freight rail network: consists of 11,110 km, including high-speed and conventional lines, of which 2,399 km are completed, 2,533 km need improvements to adapt to minimum requirements, and 6,178 km are in the planning stage.

• Infrastructure nodes:
  • Ports: 28 in service and 5 in the planning stage
  • Airports: 26 in service and 1 in the planning stage
  • Logistics platforms: 3 in service and 17 in the planning stage

The estimated cost of finishing the GTMO 5+5 core multimodal network is $118 billion.

The International Transport Infrastructure Observatory:

On 24 April 2018, also in Beirut, CETMO representatives participated in a work meeting with ESCWA, the Islamic Development Bank and UNECE, where the UNECE representative presented the project of the future International Transport Infrastructure Observatory.

In its capacity as the Centre of Transportation Studies for the Mediterranean, CETMO has been invited to participate in project development since the project began. Thanks to its specific knowledge, CETMO was asked to collaborate on the creation of a geographic information system (GIS) to provide information on the status of transport infrastructure and services in the 56 UNECE member countries, though the countries of the Middle East and Africa are expected to be added in the near future.