The 2023 ITF Summit on Transport Enabling Sustainable Economies will take place from 24 to 26 May 2023 in Leipzig, Germany, under the Presidency of the United Kingdom.
Participants at the 2023 Summit will reflect and share perspectives on the role of transport as an enabler of economic growth that also drives environmental and social sustainability.
The discussions will also focus on the role of transport in enhancing social welfare, providing benefits to society and promoting inclusion, while minimising externalities, such as traffic congestion, air and maritime pollution, and road crashes. It will also cover how transport stakeholders can promote system resilience through better planning for recurrent shocks to the transport system.
The Summit programme is carefully prepared in collaboration with the International Transport Forum’s 64 member countries, with input from a wide range of stakeholders.
Each year, the Consultation Day with International Organisations provides an opportunity for an open dialogue around the main themes of the Summit and the priority topics for the ITF in general.
The annual Summit of the International Transport Forum is the world’s largest gathering of transport ministers and the premier global transport policy event.
Every May, ministers with responsibility for transport, business leaders, heads of international organisations, parliamentarians and policymakers, representatives of business associations and leading researchers meet for three days in Leipzig, Germany, to discuss the future of transport through the prism of a strategic topic.
Summit participation has grown to over 1400 participants from more than 80 countries, well beyond the 64 member countries of the ITF. It increasingly attracts business participants, with CEOs joining high-level discussions and companies presenting their work in the Summit exhibition or sponsoring the event. The annual meeting of the ITF Corporate Partnership Board is held as part of the Summit.
Summit themes are carefully prepared by the ITF Secretariat with guidance from member countries and in consultation with stakeholders. ITF’s research unit supports the Summit with topical analyses and a pre-summit Research Day is organised with leading institutions to provide cutting-edge academic input to the Summit debate. Side events hosted by ITF partner organisations take place in and around the Summit thereby allowing greater opportunities for presentations of recent work and dialogue on key issues complementing the Summit theme.
Ministers have in the past adopted a Ministerial Declaration relating to the Summit theme, as well as presenting the ITF Young Transport Research of the Year Award.
The International Transport Forum at the OECD is an intergovernmental organisation with 64 member countries. It acts as a think tank for transport policy and organises the Annual Summit of Transport Ministers. ITF is the only global body that covers all transport modes.
