Sunday, 06 July 2025
The meeting was chaired by Chinese Minister of Transport Liu Wei. The event was attended by representatives from transport departments in Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The current issues related to the development of sustainable transport cooperation within the SCO were discussed. The parties agreed to deepen cooperation in road, rail, and water transport, develop transportation, including multimodal and container shipping, improve the transport infrastructure of international transport corridors, and enhance the resilience of logistics supply chains.
Following the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was adopted between the transport agencies of the SCO member states on cooperation in the development of road and roadside services along the Silk Road.
The document's purpose is to increase the efficiency of international road transport, promote regional economic integration and freight transportation, and create favorable conditions for vehicles and crews along the Silk Road.
"The efficient use of transport infrastructure is one of the key areas of cooperation between countries within Shanghai Cooperation Organization," said Alexey Lyakhnovich.
The head of Belarusian Ministry of Transport delivered a report at the Meeting of SCO Transport Ministers.
The Minister outlined Belarus's proposals for developing a plan to implement the Concept for Developing Connectivity and Creating Effective Transport Corridors. These include: coordinated policies between countries to improve transport infrastructure; strengthened cooperation in organizing infrastructure security systems; and further development of the Simplified Customs Corridor project (development of uniform standards for implementing customs procedures).
"To achieve the greatest impact, cooperation should extend not only to SCO countries but also to neighboring countries along the route. This will improve transport efficiency and have a positive impact on the economic development of these countries," noted Alexey Lyakhnovich.
Currently, Belarus is a participant in a number of SCO initiatives in road, rail transport and logistics.
On the sidelines of the SCO event, a meeting between the transport ministers of Belarus and China took place during Alexei Lyakhnovich's visit to Tianjin, China. During the talks, Belarusian and Chinese sides noted the positive development of bilateral dialogue.
"Only through joint efforts, cooperation between our countries continue can yield results," said Chinese Minister of Transport Liu Wei.
In turn, the head of Belarusian Ministry of Transport emphasized the progress being observed in developing international road freight transportation between Belarus and China. Alexey Lyakhnovich confirmed Belarusian transport agency's readiness to further advance joint initiatives aimed at strengthening transport and logistics ties between the countries.
Following the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding on strengthening cooperation in the development of an interconnected transport network was signed between the Ministry of Transport of Belarus and the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China.
A delegation from Belarusian Ministry of Transport also participated in the Senior Officials' Meeting of the Global Sustainable Transport Forum in Tianjin, China. Participants from 20 countries discussed the framework for cooperation in global sustainable transport development. Specifically, they considered initiatives to develop and implement the Sustainable Transport Index (STI), as well as the annual compilation of a report on best practices in sustainable transport.
