Baku, March 3, AZERTAC

On March 3, the presentation of the twinning project “Increasing road safety in Azerbaijan” took place in Baku. The topic brought together various stakeholders from Azerbaijan, Poland and Lithuania – countries involved in the initiative. The event provides an opportunity to get to know the institutions involved in the twinning project, to present to the public its scope and expected results.

The mentioned project is funded by the European Union, and its direct beneficiary is the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The aim is to improve the legal and institutional capacity and human resources of relevant government agencies and other stakeholders to better manage and coordinate road safety issues in Azerbaijan, contributing to the reduction of road accidents resulting in death or serious health injuries and socio-economic damage.

In his speech, Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev informed about the work done to improve road safety and transport infrastructure as part of the socio-economic development strategy implemented by President Ilham Aliyev.

It was noted that despite the efforts of the state, the number of deaths in road accidents is still high for every 100 thousand vehicles in the country, which does not correspond to the socio-economic development of Azerbaijan.

Rashad Nabiyev added that in order to achieve progress in this direction, the “State Programme on Road Safety 2019–2023” approved by Presidential Order is being implemented.

“The twinning project ‘Increasing Road Safety in Azerbaijan’ that we presented today actually includes a number of provisions of the State Programme. The project is of great importance in terms of improving management, coordination and addressing road safety issues in Azerbaijan. I thank the European Union for funding this important project,” said Rashad Nabiyev.

Speeches were delivered by distinguished guests i.a. from European Union Delegation to Azerbaijan, embassy of the Republic of Poland and embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Azerbaijan.

The scope of the project was presented by Resident Twinning Adviser, and experts from Poland and Lithuania.

“Today’s conference is a symbolic start of the project, while the project itself is already underway and we can already boast of good cooperation with our main beneficiary, Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, other main stakeholders and EU Delegation to Azerbaijan. Road transport safety is also of highest priority for Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland and is subject for continuous monitoring, assessment and improvement,” underlined Mr. Andrzej Bittel, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of the Republic of Poland.

“In today’s gathering, I would like to emphasize that the Centre for EU Transport Projects (CEUTP) and all project partners are committed to provide best experience and contribution in the areas of road safety legal aspects, technology and enforcement and last but not least education. We can all agree that road safety starts from proper users education gained at the level of kindergarten and primary school,” added Joanna Lech, Director of CEUTP.

“Team of experts from Poland and Lithuania brings all the necessary skills to assist the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan in establishing the proper road safety education program for schools, identify key skills required by all road safety actors and stakeholders and finally help you design and implement custom made road safety campaign. It will all be done to communicate major project goals deeply embedded in the road safety strategy for Azerbaijan,” said Mr. Justas Rašomavičius, LTSA, Member State Junior Partner Project Leader.