Press release
Minister Naughton to join global gathering of Transport Ministers
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Published on
Last updated on
Minister for State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton, is this week attending the International Transport Forum (ITF) Annual Summit, the largest annual gathering of transport Ministers. The event, which takes place in Leipzig, Germany from 18-20 May, will bring together policy makers, researchers and companies from over 60 member countries to discuss key issues facing the transport sector.
This will be the first in-person summit since 2019, following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the first virtual Summit last year which was chaired by Minister Eamon Ryan under the Irish Presidency. This year’s Summit is on the theme ‘Transport for Inclusive Societies’ and is being held under the Moroccan Presidency.
Recognising that there can be no business as usual for the ITF at this time, the Minister attended a press conference today where a Call to Action on the Russian Federation’s Military Aggression against Ukraine was presented on behalf of supporting Transport Ministers of the ITF. The Call to Action condemns the Russian Federation and Belarus’s invasion of Ukraine and expresses solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
During the summit, Minister Naughton will also attend a Minister’s Roundtable on Global Transport and the War in Ukraine, with the Ukrainian Minister for Infrastructure. This meeting will consider the impact of the war on the transport sector and the actions required to support the rebuilding of Ukrainian transport infrastructure once the war is over.
Minister Naughton said:
"I look forward to attending the Annual Summit and meeting with other Ministers and representatives from across the transport sector in person to discuss the actions we as policy makers can take to promote a more inclusive and accessible transport system. The Summit also provides us with an important opportunity to come together to condemn the senseless war in Ukraine and express our solidarity with the Ukrainian people and discuss what actions we can take to support the rebuilding of the country and its transport infrastructure."
The Minister will also attend a range of other events across the Summit programme including:
The International Transport Forum (ITF) is an intergovernmental organisation which acts as a think tank for transport policy. It is under the auspices of the OECD, but it has a wider membership of sixty-three countries.
To find out more about the ITF Summit, visit www.itf-oecd.org.