The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Dimas had a working meeting today with the European Coordinator of the Corridor Western Balkans-Eastern Mediterranean (WBEM), Marian-Jan Marinescu.
The meeting took place in the context of the latter’s visit to the countries participating in the Corridor, in view of the finalisation of the Action Plan for the completion of the relevant action plan.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport called the Western Balkans-Eastern Mediterranean Corridor one of the most strategic new European corridors, which serves as a instrument of cohesion, enlargement and geo-economic stability in the wider Western Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean region.
It is essentially, he stressed. Dimas, it is essentially the most coherent southern axis connecting Central and Eastern Europe, with the potential to become the most competitive multimodal corridor, due to its shorter geographical distance to Central Europe and its significant development potential in the intermodality and logistics hubs sectors.
He suggested that the Western Balkans-Eastern Mediterranean Corridor should not be seen as just another transport corridor, but as a key European geo-economic axis, with the potential to be linked to international networks such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and the European Coordinator agreed that a clear and collective focus on the actual implementation of infrastructure projects and the strengthening of their financial coverage is now required, as geopolitical and geo-economic developments require Member States and European institutions to focus more decisively on tangible results and actual implementation on the ground.
Finally, this is what will create substantial added value for citizens and prove the practical benefit of European investments, he said, stressing that the implementation of policies that will bring about the necessary breakthrough to enhance the competitiveness of our European economy is required.
