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IRF partners with China Summit, focussing on New Silk Road

The IRF has partnered with a key Chinese summit, focussing on capacity building for the new Silk Road project. During the three day International Highway Technology Summit, billed as China’s largest and most influential highway knowledge platform, the International Road Federation chaired a flagship multi-country panel discussion on China's new Silk Road Economic Belt programme. In addition, the IRF organised training workshops on forgiving roads and asset management applications. The event drew together
June 8, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
IRF executive vice-president Mike Dreznes
IRF executive vice-president Mike Dreznes was one of several internationally recognised speakers at the China Highway Technology Summit
The 3918 IRF Washington has partnered with a key Chinese summit, focussing on capacity building for the new Silk Road project. During the three day International Highway Technology Summit, billed as China’s largest and most influential highway knowledge platform, the International Road Federation chaired a flagship multi-country panel discussion on China's new Silk Road Economic Belt programme. In addition, the IRF organised training workshops on forgiving roads and asset management applications.

The event drew together 1,500 participants ranging from highway administration agencies to contractors in China, as well as from countries impacted by the Silk Belt programme. China’s new vision for the Silk Road includes a surface transport corridor that stretches from Xi’an in central China to Kazakhstan, northern Iran and Istanbul where it connects with Europe’s major road corridors. The surface transport programme itself is connected within a broader package of infrastructure works as well as a series of measures aimed at revitalising the Euro-Asian trade corridors.

During the panel discussion chaired by the IRF Washington, a number of vital points were identified by the speakers as critical success factors for the success of the Silk Road programme. Chief amongst these were strategies that supported shared benefits for participating nations. In his closing remarks, IRF Washington membership development & marketing director Arif Rafiq commented, “The Silk Road is not a one-nation endeavour.”

The IRF’s presence at the Summit further underscores the organisation’s global reach and its central role in delivering applied knowledge resources to road practitioners worldwide.

"We are honoured to have had the IRF as a supporting organisation to the 2015 International Highway Technology Summit at a time when China is proposing to fast-track regional connections through the Silk Road Economic Belt," said Hu Xijie, president of the China Highway & Transportation Society and former vice minister of transport for China.

"IHTS has become a signature event in one of the most vibrant markets globally," noted C Patrick Sankey, IRF Washington president & CEO. "On this occasion the IRF was pleased to introduce our suite of capacity strengthening programmes adapted to the needs of Chinese highway professionals."


Regional transport corridors and the prospects offered by the Silk Road Economic Belt program will be at the core of the 1st IRF Europe & Central Asia Regional Congress in Istanbul on September 15-18, 2015. For more information, please visit %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal 1st IRF Europe &amp; Central Asia Regional Congress Visit 1st irf europe central asia regional congress exhibition event false https://www.irfnews.org/event/1st-irf-europe-central-asia-regional-congress-exhibition/ false false%> event page on IRF Washington website.

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