The joint ITF-IRU Workshop concludes that road transport can be a key driver of the global economic recovery provided governments worldwide promote and further facilitate trade and road transport.
 
Organised as part of the International Transport Forum 2009, the joint ITF-IRU Workshop on "Road Transport: promoting global trade, travel and development", today brought together over 100 ministerial, business and academic representatives from countries in Europe, The Americas, Asia, the Middle-East and Oceania, as well as high-level speakers from the WTO, WCO and UNECE, who concluded that any penalty on road transport is an even greater penalty on the economy as a whole and identified solutions calling for urgent governmental action.

IRU President, Janusz Lacny, said, "It is encouraging to see that potential remedies to the present crisis are fully supported by the leaders of the G20, who set the path for further facilitation of trade and road transport at the recent London summit … Road transport, in this time of economic crisis, can help drive economic recovery. But to do so, historical errors of the Great Depression of the 1930s, where the economic crisis was exacerbated by the halt in transport and trade, should not be repeated."

Indeed, Government and industry data draw a bleak picture, pointing to a decrease in road freight transport activity of up to 50%, a doubling of bankruptcies, a dramatic increase in unemployment (permanent or temporary layoffs), which already amounts to 140,000 jobs in the EU, 120,000 jobs in the CIS and 200,000 jobs in North America.

IRU Vice President, Graham Smith, added, “The passenger road transport sector also suffers from shrinking tourist demand. Bearing in mind our excellent safety and environmental record that makes buses, coaches and taxis genuine travel alternatives of the future, it is essential that policy decision makers at local, national or international level fully support the industry by doing away with artificial barriers, like unjustified bans on entering touristic cities or unfounded driving and rest time restrictions.”

Source: The Financial