The 26th UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly (APRA), in conjunction with the 16th UIC Asia Pacific Management Committee and the Freight Corridors Workshop on Interoperability & Standards, successfully took place on 16 November 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand. Chaired by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, in the absence of the UIC Asia-Pacific Chairman, Mr Oleg Belozerov, President of RZD, the meeting was focused on the appointment of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the region and the activities and budget of 2019.
For 2019-2020, the members approved, as the Chairman of the region, the appointment of Mr Lu Dongfu, Chairman of China Railway Corporation (CR) and as Vice Chairman, the appointment of the Chairman of Kazakhstan Railways. On behalf of all the APRA members, Mr Loubinoux thanked Mr Belozerov for his two-year mandate as Chairman of the region and his involvement in UIC Asia-Pacific activities.
The region has also been pleased to welcome three new members: PNR, Philippine National Railways, SRT, State Railway of Thailand and Sydney Trains (Australia).
An increasing number of project proposals have been made for 2019 and a selection has been decided within a regional budget that is limited but in line with the 2016 – 2019 Strategic Action Plan and the Vision 2050.
At the end of APRA, the results of the 4th UIC Asia-Pacific Photo Contest were delivered. In the Company category, JR West received First Prize, Vietnam Railways Second Prize and JR East Third Prize. In the Individuals category, Ivan Shapovalov from Russian Railways (RZD) received First Prize, Chen Hung Shih from Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), Second Prize and Kuo-Wei Lee from THSRC, Third Prize. Following this photo contest, the 2019 UIC Asia-Pacific calendar was published with the 12 most voted for photos.
On behalf of Mr Oleg Belozerov, Mr Vachyeslav Pavlovskiy, Vice CEO, RZD, sincerely thanked all the members for their trust in Mr Belozerov by electing him Chairman of the UIC APRA in 2016 and giving him support during his tenure.
Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux closed the 26th UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, thanking all the members for their presence and cooperation and invited them to attend the next UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assemblies which will be held in Manila (Philippines) on 23 May 2019 and in Tokyo (Japan) on 28 October 2019.
