The importance of road transport has been highlighted at the opening of the 30th International Road Transport Union (IRU) World Congress in Dubai.

IRU President Paul Laeremans told an assembled audience of 1,500 delegates 70 countries from all five continents of the importance of road transport’s "high quality door-to-door services, as a modern day production tool and an integral part of complex logistic systems."

He said that road transport is the only mode of transport that permits and ensures high quality person-to-person relations. He told the audience that unlike other modes, the IRU has the statutory duty to promote "the economic, social and environmental objectives of sustainable development".

"Governments must harmonise and strictly enforce the numerous social, fiscal and technical regulations governing the road transport profession thus eliminating market distortions and, in so doing, creating a framework that will allow all transport operators an equal chance on the market," he commented.

He told Congress participants that this unique event "will allow governments to focus their eyes and open their minds to the indispensable and irreplaceable role of the road transport industry.

"The conclusions of this Congress will help us all, in a more pragmatic sense, to work together for a better future, not only for our profession, but for our children and society as a whole."