The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe held a meeting in April to discuss the operational challenges faced by the Gulf region in using the International Road Transport Convention and to find corresponding solutions to make transportation processes smoother and more efficient. The meeting brought together government representatives, customs authorities, railway management agencies from the Gulf and wider region, as well as road transport companies represented by the International Road Transport Union, aiming to support the Gulf region in joining the Convention and to align with the ECE's ongoing work on inland transport corridors.

Gulf countries border checkpoint monitoring platform

To make current transport routes more transparent and help optimise cargo planning on inland routes in the Gulf region, the European Economic Commission has officially launched the 'Gulf States Border Checkpoint Monitoring Platform'. This brand-new digital platform brings together data from border checkpoints and Convention processing points provided by customs authorities of various countries, which is usually released via the Convention's international database under normal circumstances.

The monitoring platform not only provides information about the Gulf countries themselves but also covers their neighbouring countries, which are also parties to the Convention, including Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan. Since the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict, the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed, and the Gulf countries have successively activated alternative inland transport routes. One important measure is to increase the use of the Convention. The Convention has created the world's only customs transit system for international cargo transport, managed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and it covers multimodal transit operations, allowing flexible combinations of sea, rail and road transport as needed.

Many countries are rolling out new measures to boost transport capacity

Currently, there are mainly two inland transport routes connecting Turkey with the Gulf region: the "Turkey—Iraq—Saudi Arabia—other Gulf countries" route, or the "Turkey—Syria—Jordan—Saudi Arabia—other Gulf countries" route. Both routes take about four days for the entire journey, much shorter than by sea.

Some public sectors in the area have announced 24-hour border clearance operations and will expand the types of goods allowed from food and consumer goods to construction materials. In addition, Pakistan recently announced the opening of a new transit route, allowing import and export goods, including those from third countries, to be transported to Iran via Pakistan under the framework of the Convention.

The International Road Transport Union said that traffic on routes connecting the Gulf region with Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports has grown significantly, with the number of containers transiting through Jeddah port up 140%, from 50,000 a week to 120,000. The union also noted that its members reported global demand for these routes has reached five times capacity, driving up transport prices.

At the same time, a temporary "green channel" was set up in early April, allowing international sea shipments arriving at designated ports or free zones in Dubai to first be transported overland to Oman, and then continue to their destination via Oman ports. This channel is managed by Dubai Customs.

We really need to beef up land transport and connectivity

The UN Economic Commission for Europe says the current situation further highlights the urgency of strengthening railway infrastructure and connectivity, such as rebuilding Syria's rail infrastructure damaged in the conflict. Once rebuilt, it will significantly boost the overall capacity of the Turkey-Syria-Jordan-Saudi Arabia-Gulf route. But overall, the main bottlenecks are still the lack of vehicles and drivers, and issues with truck driver visa issuance.

At present, the existing transport routes can meet the region's countries' needs for transporting food and consumer goods. If local operating capacity allows, these routes are also expected to provide transport solutions for industrial products, urea and other types of fertilizer, as well as other kinds of goods.

This article is reprinted from the United Nations News, original URL: 欧洲经济委员会推出新数字平台，简化海湾地区内陆运输货物运输流程 | | 1联合国新闻