MoU between CETMO and UIC

CETMO sings a Memorandum of Understanding with International Union of Railways

• CETMO spoke at the headquarters of the International Union of Railways (UIC) to describe its activities, with an emphasis on rail matters
• A collaboration agreement was then signed between CETMO and the UIC to make progress on rail cooperation in the Western Mediterranean

The first week in December is also the most important week of the year for the International Union of Railways because it is when the General Assembly is held, among other events. Given the budding relationship between CETMO and the UIC, CETMO was invited to speak at the UIC headquarters and a collaboration agreement was signed by the two organizations.

In his speech, CETMO’s Director General described the work done in the Group of Transport Ministries of the Western Mediterranean (GTMO 5+5) and made special mention of the Ministerial Conference to be held on 12 December in Mauritania. He also presented the organization’s activities within the context of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation such as the Logismed Initiative. Finally, the CETMO Director General described the progress status of the Trans-Maghreb Multimodal Corridor, as well as the funding required to complete it. Although the speech focused on rail topics, the Director General stressed that all transport modes should be taken into account because transport networks must primarily be multimodal.

The other significant event CETMO participated in was the signing of a collaboration agreement with the UIC. The Director General of CETMO (Òscar Oliver) and the Director General of the UIC (Jean-Pierre Loubinoux) signed the agreement in a ceremony held at the UIC headquarters.

The collaboration agreement reflects a number of key elements such as sharing data to better understand the regional transport system, and exchanging good practices in different areas such as road safety, logistics and public transport.

The document also mentions the need to identify new forms of infrastructure funding and to promote the priority rail projects for the Maghreb rail network. Improving connections between different modes of transport is identified as one of the key elements to be worked on. 

The agreement’s most cross-cutting article highlights sustainability and the need for both parties to make progress towards the sustainable development of transport.

The International Union of Railways (UIC)

The UIC is an international non-profit organization founded in 1922 with the main mission of promoting global rail transport to handle current mobility and sustainable development challenges by improving international cooperation among its members, constructing a consistent rail system and implementing global projects.

The UIC has 200 members from all over the world, including integrated railways companies, infrastructure managers, rail and combined transport operators, suppliers of rail services and service companies that rent rail power systems, many of which are located in developing countries.