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In his address to the participants, Minister Mitrović expressed his satisfaction with the participation in the Summit adding that the 21^st century smart and sustainable transport implies a multimodal approach to transport of goods and efficient and economical transport of passengers, with as few harmful consequences for the environment as possible, without any additional administrative barriers.

"A developing country such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and a developing region like the Western Balkans are fortunate to be situated on the European continent, right next to the EU borders and unfortunate to have a relatively underdeveloped transport infrastructure that cannot adequately meet the needs of our time. The development of a modern railway network is an economic challenge for all of us, and modern railway operators, with modern and functional locomotives and wagons, which use the railway infrastructure in accordance with their contract with infrastructure managers, is our common goal" said Minister Mitrović.

The Rail Summit was organised by the Transport Community Permanent Secretariat, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), under the auspices of the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia.

Director of the Transport Community Permanent Secretariat, Matej Zakonjšek, expressed his firm belief that the First Western Balkans Rail Summit will serve as a driver and impact positive changes for investing in rail transport and reforming rail policies, which will lead to rail transport becoming attractive to citizens and business people in the region again.

In addition to the Transport Ministers, the Summit was also attended by Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Maja Bakran Marcich, Deputy Director-General for Mobility and Transport (DG Move), Nandita Parshad, Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Group at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Lilyana Pavlova, EIB Vice-President for the Western Balkans region and many others.

Managing Director Parshad noted on the support that the EBRD has provided to the Western Balkan countries in the process of greening their economies, where almost half of those investments are directed towards projects that support the green agenda. This is a great opportunity that the Western Balkan countries must not miss and, therefore, they need to invest in their railways.

The European Year of Rail is part of the EU's efforts under the European Green Deal to achieve a sustainable economy through climate neutrality by 2050, and one of the key elements of the Deal is to introduce cleaner and healthier modes of transport.