"Keeping the focus in times of crisis": this was the motto under which transport ministers from all over the world met at the International Transport Forum (ITF) in Leipzig. They exchanged views on topics such as climate neutrality in transport, greater road safety and the use of artificial intelligence. "We are still living in very difficult times," said the Secretary General of the International Transport Forum, Young Tae Kim, after a ministerial meeting in Leipzig on Thursday. The Dominican Republic, Oman and Saudi Arabia were also welcomed as new members at the meeting.
In the last seven years, the forum has welcomed ten countries, Kim added. The ITF now has 69 member states. Diversity is of great importance. "Even if we are talking about the same topic, the context is always different and we can learn from each other."
"We live in a world in which the normal state has increasingly become a state of emergency and the state of emergency has increasingly become the normal state," said State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport, Hartmut Höppner (FDP). There are currently many challenges in different areas and the solutions are not always congruent. "Our task is to keep people mobile and to make this mobility climate-friendly." In order to ensure mobility, "everyone must pull together - politics, science and business".
Around 50 transport ministers have been discussing the future of mobility since Wednesday. In addition to the transport ministers, around 1400 delegates from more than 80 countries are taking part in the meeting. The World Forum is taking place until Friday under the presidency of Lithuania. Chile is set to take over the presidency next year.
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