A key communication platform for leaders of the railway business, the Strategic Partnership 1520 (SP1520) provides annual analysis of the railway transport performance across the wide gauge area.

The SP1520 seeks to help coordinate polices on railway transport development across the 1520 to secure it is on the cutting-edge of global transportation market.

At the heart of the discussions are the three main pillars of the railway industry: transportation, infrastructure and rolling stock. With over 20 interactive formats annually, the SP is a gateway to focused debates with high-level executives and policy-makers, business leaders, academicians, as well as heads of national railway companies from both 1520 and 1435 gauge systems.

A home to signing ceremonies for multimillion contracts each year, the SP1520 is always in the limelight of media reports, including global railway editions, business radio stations and Russian federal TV-channels.

To ensure the SP is genuinely open-minded and inclusive, an informal Board of Directors teams up closely during the two-day programme to offer an unbiased overview of how effective and forward-looking the debates are to drive change and innovations in the railway sector.

A good balance between debates and entertainment programme is a guarantee for both learning and networking with the right people in the right place.

Agenda

In 2014, the “1520 Strategic Partnership” regional forum will, for the first time, analyse the interests of railway business in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR). The event will be held within the framework of the China International Logistics and Transportation Fair (CILF) in Shenzhen on 14–16 October.

The forum will be held in order to inform freight-generating companies of China and the APR about the transit potential of the broad gauge countries, and commercial and technological components of high-speed container service using the infrastructure of the Baikal–Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The business programme of the forum is made up two discussions focusing on EU–1520–APR railway traffic. The first discussion centres on the commercial infrastructure for transit traffic: the freight base and infrastructure capacities for commodity transit between East and West. The second discussion will address the technological process and specific features of transportation between Europe and Asia, specifically tariff and non-tariff barriers, electronic customs declaration, transport documents, etc.

Another important issue to be addressed by the forum is the engagement between railways and seaports and ways to improve their coordination with a view to building reliable intercontinental supply chains.

Emphasis will be placed on efforts for 1520 transportation companies and customers of the APR economies to enter into a practical dialogue. It is planned to organise negotiations within the framework of exchange of business contacts involving the leading companies of the transport and logistics sector of the broad gauge countries

It is expected that representatives of leading Chinese companies specialising in car manufacture and computer engineering, as well as production and processing of energy resources, will make a substantial contribution at the forum.