On June 16, 2011, the IRU's 6th Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference was opened in Tbilisi. The conference, held at Shota Rustaveli State Theater, was attended by the ministers of transport and infrastructure of several countries, as well as by the managers of 22 international organizations.
Vera Kobalia, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, attended the opening ceremony of the event and gave a welcome speech to its guests. The minister talked about the importance of collaboration between countries in terms of transport and other future perspectives.
In the framework of the transport ministerial, Vera Kobalia met with her foreign colleagues. The minister held bilateral meetings with the ministers of transport from Vietnam and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The main discussion topic revolved around cooperation within the transport field and focused on aviation. Ho Nghia Dzung, the Minister of Transport of Vietnam, expressed his interest in arranging direct flights between Georgia and Vietnam and noted that direct flights would develop trade and tourism in both countries. After meeting her colleagues, Vera Kobalia noted that both countries are more interested in using the Georgian transit potential.
The conference lasted two days and the participants discussed transport issues in the Caucasus and the necessity of developing transport infrastructure along the Great Silk Road.
The strategic role of Georgia in connecting Asia and Europe by means of land, air and maritime transport was also discussed during the conference. The parties spoke about how to make better use of Georgian transport routes and how to connect them to other countries.
