Brunei Darussalam chaired and hosted the 49th ASEAN Senior Transport Officials Meeting (STOM) and the Ad-Hoc ASEAN STOM and China Meeting via video conference yesterday.
The meeting was chaired by Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications (MTIC) Haji Mohammad Nazri bin Haji Mohammad Yusof and was attended by senior transport officials from ASEAN member states and the ASEAN Secretariat.
Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary at the MTIC Pengiran Haji Mohd Zain bin Pengiran Haji Abdul Razak led the Brunei Darussalam delegation. Officials from the MTIC, departments and authority under the ministry also attended.
The ASEAN STOM is an annual meeting for the ASEAN senior transport officials to discuss the follow-up decisions, policies and directions, projects and initiatives that have been agreed by ASEAN leaders needed for the development of transport infrastructures and to strengthen transport linkages and connectivity to enhance regional integration and competitiveness of ASEAN.
Among the topics discussed during the 49th STOM was reviewing identified projects and initiatives of the ASEAN transport sector to be delivered in 2020.
This includes the conclusion of ASEAN-New Zealand Air Services Agreement, the signing of the ASEAN-EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement (CATA), the launching of ASEAN Land Transport Network Map, the adoption of the ‘Guidelines for improving standard procedure for reporting road crashes in ASEAN member states based on UN standards’, the adoption of ‘Guidelines for Maintenance of Navigation Channel’, the adoption of ‘Guidelines for Safety Measures with Ships’ Routeing, the mid-term ‘Review of the ASEAN Transport Strategic Plan for 2016-2025 (Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan)’, and the endorsement of the reviewed version of ASEAN Air Traffic Management (ATM) Master Plan.
The meeting also served as a platform to discuss the initiatives and actions taken by the ASEAN member states in addressing the COVID-19 outbreak.
It was hoped that such information sharing of measures taken in the transport sector, can help and support ASEAN member states in addressing the COVID-19 outbreak. The 49th STOM was preceded by the 1st Task Force Meeting on Mid-Term Review of the Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan 2016-2025 (KLTSP) on Tuesday. The task force meeting discussed the implementation of major milestones laid out in the KLTSP 2016-2025.
The meeting was followed by the Ad-Hoc Meeting of ASEAN and China Senior Transport Officers (STOM+China), co-chaired by Haji Mohammad Nazri and Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Transport China Zhang Xiaojie.
The Ad Hoc STOM and China Meeting was held to discuss China’s proposal to hold the ASEAN and China Transport Ministers’ Special Meeting scheduled in July.
Among the objectives of the Special Meeting is to discuss and share the various initiatives taken by ASEAN Member States and China in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly in the transport and logistics sector.
Brunei Darussalam is currently the Chair of the ASEAN Transport Ministers Meeting (ATM) and the ASEAN STOM for 2020. The ATM is scheduled to convene at the end of 2020.