Transport, Trade and Tourism meet in Germany
Sri Lanka, as an emerging country investing heavily on new transport modes; building mega ports to cater to the growing mega ships; and a hub space for travel and tourism would be falling in line with the changing world as these key issues would be discused at the International Transport Forum scheduled to take place from May 26-29 in Leipzig, Germany.
The forum would be the place where a number of key global ministers on transport, trade and tourism would converge to discuss these key issues with one of the key speaker’s expected to be the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon scheduled to make a video presentation. The theme of this year’s annual conference is “Transport, Trade and Tourism.”
Some of the areas that would be focused on at the conference would be the trade routes of the future; how it would impact maritime transport; what ports would benefit from this; and the policy interventions required for maritime transport.
The forum is expected to discuss the approaches required for transport to respond to new trade flows; strategies needed to address risks and uncertainty in supply chains.
In addition, discussions would centre on better coordination and coherence between trade and tourism policies and in particular concerning demand for infrastructure.
Moreover, participants are expected to delve into the digitalization and technological advances facilitating integration of transport infrastructure and services to support trade and tourism.
Global challenges facing international airlines and the green innovation to be integrated into the growing demand while protecting the environment.
The forum is also expected to look at the key areas of gaining on capacity by highlighting the possibility of using shared cars that could have an impact on vehicle owners and public service providers.
Sri Lanka has kept itself in line with the changing global trends by constructing a mega port at the Colombo South Habour at an 18 metre depth draft that would be able to cater to some of the mega vessels that would be passing this route.
In addition, Colombo is currently looking at streamlining its bus transportation system via a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system which would be effective to move large numbers of people across urban areas and which is also significant in developing countriesLocal transport experts note that with the share of bus transport in the country expected to drop from 55 per cent in 2011 to 41 per cent in 2021, rail would be flat at 5 per cent and private transport would rise from 26 per cent to 38 per cent.
However, it was noted that with the BRT systems coming into place Sri Lanka needs to focus on not allowing the public transport to drop below 50 per cent.
Colombo traffic was reportedly expected to slow down further as incomes rise and the city’s average traffic speed may drop to 17.4 km per hour from 21.6 per cent in 2021 and it may drop to 9.1 km in 2013 unless public transport was changed.