International Road Transport Union- IRU

General AssemblyGeneva, Switzerland

April 27, 2012

Jorge SaggianteExecutive Secretary of Integral Development

The Americas

• 35 countries• Area

42,549,000 km2• Population

Almost 1000 million (1 billion)

• Pop. Density 21/km2

• Average GDP per capita $21,500/year (nominal)

*Source:International Monetary Fund

** Estimated

• 50 countries• Area

10,180,000km2• Population

739,165,000• Pop. Density

72/km2• Average GDP per

capita $35,116/year (nominal)

• 48 countries• Area

44,579,000 km2• Population

3,879,000,000• Pop. Density

87/km2• Average GDP

per capita $11,326/year**

(nominal)

The Americas* Europe* Asia*

OAS and the Political DialogueOAS and the Political Dialogue

Premier Political Forum for dialogue at three levels:

• Presidential / Heads of State• Ministerial / High policy-making authorities• Technical level

Political dialogue consensus policies.

Concrete Actions• Cooperation projects• Exchange of experiences and best practices• Institutional strengthening / capacity building• Effective Public Policies

From political priorities and initiatives to concrete actions and projects

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1990-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005 2006-2010

4

75

More than 75 free trade agreements signed in the

last 20 years

Free Trade Agreements in Latin America and the Caribbean

International and Intra-regional trade

Insufficient participation in global trade, @ 5% of total. Low levels of intra-regional trade

EAST ASIA

LAC LAC

EAST ASIA

EUROPEAN UNION

TRANSPORTATION COSTS (Cargo VS. Duties in LAC)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

carga

arancel

Source: Inter-American Development Bank, El Estado de la Integración Regional en ALC.

Cargo

Duties

Critical Considerations

• Competitiveness cannot be considered in purely national terms. It is also a matter of open markets and trade, supported by the development of technological capabilities and efficient infrastructure.

• To achieve greater intra-regional integration, LAC countries may be well served if they remove certain administrative barriers to international road transport which drives progress, prosperity and peace;

• For that, we must promote public policies to improve the range and quality of national infrastructure to reduce logistics costs, especially in transport.

• It is critical to reduce trade barriers by increasing the compatibility and standardization of customs procedures.

• This is the only way that we will achieve cost efficiency, increased competitiveness and benefit producers and end consumers.

OAS-IRU RELATIONSHIP

• Public-Private partnership

• Study on International Road Transport in Mexico as a means to inform political dialogue and policy-making

• Latin American highways and countries to promote the joint Latin American Road Transport Initiative (LARTI)

• South American CARAVAN

OAS-IRU Mexico Study

• Road transport in Mexico accounts for 97% of the total:– contributes with 16% of tourism GDP and mobilizes 85%

of domestic trade.• The federal public service road transport consists of 127

thousand companies and 714 thousand vehicles.• International road transport has not been able to deploy all its

potential• Need to bring down barriers to:

– cross-border road transport, – barriers connected to border saturation, and– barriers derived from asymmetries between countries

and transport systems.

Diagnostic tool to inform political discussions and promote policy-making