ITF summit opens in Leipzig under Azerbaijan’s presidency

The annual summit of the International Transport Forum has opened in Leipzig under Azerbaijan’s presidency.

This year’s main theme is “Funding transport resilience”, a topic that has become increasingly important amid climate change, urbanisation and technological transformation in the transport sector.

Speaking at a press conference marking the opening of the summit, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev thanked the ITF, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, for its cooperation and the high level of organisation of the event.

Nabiyev said Azerbaijan had focused during its presidency on improving the institutional efficiency of the forum. He said constructive cooperation with member states had made it possible to agree on the organisation’s work programme.

The minister said Azerbaijan had built the agenda of its presidency around five key priorities and that concrete results in these areas were already being presented at the summit.

ITF Secretary-General Young Tae Kim said Azerbaijan had made a significant contribution to the forum’s work and played an important role in the exchange of international experience in the transport sector.

The annual ITF summit is considered the world’s largest gathering of transport ministers and one of the key global platforms for shaping transport policy. The event brings together ministers from the organisation’s 69 member countries, heads of international organisations, parliamentarians, business representatives and members of the academic community.

The forum has been held annually in Leipzig since 2008. The number of participants now exceeds 1,200 delegates from more than 80 countries.

The 2026 summit is the second part of the ITF 2025–2027 summit trilogy dedicated to the resilience of transport systems. Discussions focus on improving the reliability, efficiency and connectivity of global transport infrastructure.