Secretary of the meeting Teymour Bashir Gonbadi told IRNA that the meeting aimed at boosting regional interaction in transportation and to spot challenges and opportunities.

He said a weak transportation sector in the region has made trade an expensive activity.

This, in turn, makes it necessary for the regional countries to strengthen relations in transportation sector to deal with the problem, the official added.

According to the official, representatives from 15 south, southwest and central Asian countries are participating in the meeting with a mandate of developing a comprehensive plan for transportation sector.

He said the meeting is hosted by Iran’s Road and Transportation Ministry in coordination with ESCAP sub-regional office in India.

The two-day event will conclude work by issuing a statement on Monday.

Representatives from Nepal, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan as well as the World Bank, Economic Cooperation Organization, Asia Development Bank and Shanghai Economic Cooperation Organization are taking part in the meeting.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. Made up of 53 Member States and 9 Associate Members, with a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, the region is home to 4.1 billion people, or two thirds of the world’s population. This makes ESCAP the most comprehensive of the United Nations five regional commissions, and the largest United Nations body serving the Asia-Pacific region with over 600 staff.

Established in 1947 with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, ESCAP works to overcome some of the region’s greatest challenges by providing results-oriented projects, technical assistance and capacity building to member States.

ESCAP’s first meeting was in Korea in 2007 with the second coming in 2010 in Indonesia.

The third meeting was also in Tehran in 2012.