📋 Tender Overview
The Czech Republic took over the presidency of the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD for the following year at the summit. The Czech delegation at the summit in Leipzig Germany was led by Minister of Transport Ivan Bednarik. During its presidency the Czech Republic will focus primarily on sharing experiences in financing the construction of transport infrastructure strengthening the role of freight rail transport and implementing modern digital technologies in transport. The highlight of the Czech presidency will be the ITF summit in 2027 which will take place in Leipzig on the theme Governing Resilient Transport.
Transport knows no borders and that is why international cooperation is more important today than ever. Our common task is to eliminate bottlenecks in transport develop modern infrastructure reduce unnecessary administration and support digitalization. The Czech Republic wants to coordinate the cooperation of more than seventy member countries during its presidency at the ITF in this geopolitically complex time so that the available and reliable transport of passengers and goods improves said Minister of Transport Ivan Bednarik.
Key discussion topics also included the digitalization of international freight transport the development of urban mobility the security and resilience of supply chains cybersecurity in transport support for multimodality and speeding up planning and permitting processes for transport constructions.
The Minister of Transports program also included a number of bilateral meetings. The minister met with his counterparts from Azerbaijan Japan Spain Norway Turkey and Ghana. Topics discussed included cooperation in transport high-speed rail the competitiveness of freight rail transport infrastructure financing and opportunities for deeper cooperation with countries outside Europe. The negotiations with Azerbaijan and Ghana concluded with the signing of memoranda of cooperation between the transport ministries.
The Czech Republic supports the simplification of permitting processes for transport constructions. Minister Bednarik also participated in a side event led by the German Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder which focused on speeding up the preparation of transport constructions and reducing administrative burdens at the European level.
The head of the Czech Ministry of Transport emphasized in this debate that investments in infrastructure must be accompanied by simpler more digital and more predictable permitting processes: The development of modern transport infrastructure is one of the key priorities of the Czech Republic and the entire European Union. In the context of the planned construction of high-speed lines it is essential that the European Union supports this intention not only through appropriate financial instruments but also through systematic reductions in administrative burdens in permitting processes. The current level of bureaucracy significantly prolongs the preparation of strategic constructions. Therefore the Czech Republic welcomes initiatives aimed at simplifying them at the European level and is ready to actively participate in their promotion said Minister Bednarik.
About the International Transport Forum (ITF)
The International Transport Forum at the OECD is an intergovernmental organization that brings together 72 member countries. It serves as a global platform for dialogue on transport policy and as a think tank in the field of transport. The ITF is administratively integrated into the OECD and represents the only global organization that deals with all modes of transport.
It annually holds a summit of transport ministers which is among the most significant global meetings focused on transport policy. The forum has long been dedicated to topics of sustainable mobility digitalization innovation security and accessible and inclusive transport.
Transport knows no borders. I am using the #ITF summit in Leipzig not only to participate in the main program but also for a number of working meetings with my ministerial counterparts. I discussed transport relations with colleagues from Japan Spain Germany Turkey and Norway. The main topics included...
