Carole Coune, Secretary General of the International Transport Forum at the OECD, stresses role of transport for environmentally responsible development in keynote speech at the XXIVth World Road Congress in Mexico.

Carole Coune, who assumed office as the International Transport Forum’s Secretary General in August, will be delivering her first major public keynote at the World Road Transport Conference in Mexico City on September 26. Emphasizing the key role of transport for environmentally responsible development, Coune said:

“Transport is a critical factor in delivering green growth. The sector has to innovate to cut its environmental footprint, and new transport industries and transport infrastructure investment will be motors for growth after the crisis. Fast growing economies in Latin America and in Asia will determine in large part how transport’s environmental footprint will evolve.”

“Transport infrastructure investments figure large in economic recovery programs because of the number of jobs they create. But understanding which projects are most likely to generate growth in the long term, beyond the construction phase, is critical to making the best use of severely limited public funds.

“It has a lot to do with freeing up constraints in the existing transport system that act as a brake on innovation and business development. It has alot to do with making urban areas more rapidly accessible from major entry points: airports, rail and bus hubs. It is about connecting workers and potential workers to employers.

This is something transport Ministers will discuss in depth at the International Transport Forum’s annual summit in Leipzig in May 2012. A seamless transport system is appealing to its users, and it promotes economic development.”