Opening round table seminar on 'ITS and Traffic Management'
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[Distinguished guests,] ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to thank our host for inviting us to be here today.
This is my first visit to your country and it has been a tremendous experience to be in China.
In the first place, due to your impressive history.
So many inventions and discoveries originate in China.
China had sailed all the oceans of the world – all the way to the coasts of Africa – a century and a half before the first Dutch ship docked in Macau in 1600.
In addition, China impresses us by its huge economic and technical developments. Even during the current global financial and economic crisis Chinese economic growth has scarcely slowed.
That alone instils not only admiration but also hope for the near future.
You will understand that these are exciting days for me and the large Dutch delegation that includes many world-class companies.
The Netherlands is making its way in the world with a mere 16 million inhabitants. We are 16th on the world economy rankings, the sixth exporter and the sixth foreign investor.
Shanghai is a global city without parallel. A metropolis of millions, the financial trading centre of China.
A city with a long history in the fields of transport and logistics.
The first car on Asian soil was driven in Shanghai.
The first railway in Asia was laid here. Today, Shanghai has the eleventh busiest metro network and the world’s most extensive bus system.
It is impressive to see how all of this is run efficiently and in an innovative way.
Next year, things will get even busier when Shanghai actually becomes the centre of the world.
In May 2010, the World Expo will open here with the theme Better city, better life.
There will be a Dutch pavilion, the Happy Street, where we will be exhibiting our culture.
Another interesting pavilion will be that of General Motors and the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.
How will we move around in cities?
This question will be answered at the only car pavilion at the expo.
The vision of GM is that a future traffic system will relieve cities of traffic jams. Vehicles of the future will be unpiloted, according to GM, they will be able to communicate with each other to avoid accidents.
Cars will also ‘talk’, so to speak, to roads to choose the best route. In the light of this round table seminar, these are very interesting ideas.
The Netherlands has high ambitions in the field of mobility, and thus in ITS.
We have to.
Like Shanghai, the Netherlands too is densely populated and it is also the gateway to Europe.
We have an open economy and there is increasing pressure on the environment. We need to modify our traffic system to guarantee traffic flows smoothly.
The Netherlands cannot do this on its own. We know this only too well.
To properly organise traffic flows, we are not only seeking cooperation with our European partners, but definitely with China as well.
And our cooperation has been very smooth indeed.
It has led to concrete results in recent years.
I am therefore very pleased that we signed a new MoU in Beijing.
One of the sections involves road transport.
We have already mentioned a few concrete cooperation projects in that area: traffic management, evacuation and emergency management and cooperative systems.
I am pleased with this.
ITS plays an important role in continuing to realise our ambitions as a distribution country and the gateway to Europe. Therefore, the Dutch Ministry of Transport has formulated an ambitious policy framework that focuses strongly on innovation in the field of ITS.
There are five innovative initiatives I would like to tell you about.
They are very relevant for the aggressive development of ITS in the Netherlands. And because Europe has its eye on the Netherlands, for the development of Europe as well.
1) In 2009, I set up a strategic consultation committee for traffic information and traffic management.
This group is examining how public and private parties can together increase the effectiveness of their efforts regarding traffic information and traffic management.
This contributes to fast and reliable travelling times from door to door, to road safety and to the sustainability of mobility and thus the optimum use of available road capacity.
2) The introduction of network pricing: the Netherlands is preparing an ambitious scheme for network pricing.
The goal is to introduce road pricing for the whole of the Netherlands.
Cooperative systems can play an important role in facilitating forms of electronic and dynamic, variable pricing.
3) The introduction of Dynamic Speed Limits.
In January 2009 four pilots were started in the Netherlands, to investigate the possibilities of dynamic speed limits. This is another instrument that might be very effective in trying to realise goals for accessibility, safety and the environment.
And it could be facilitated by the use of cooperative systems.
4) Showcase 2010.
This is a large-scale demonstration of cooperative systems in the Netherlands in 2010.
It will have a positive effect on the further development of promising and innovative instruments, like variable network road pricing and dynamic speed limits.
Another large event in the Netherlands is the World Congress of IT, in May 2010.
The central theme is Challenges of Change and one of the focus areas is ICT & Mobility.
There is a lot going on in this field in my country.
5) The Netherlands not only desires to make advances in the field of ITS.
We also wish to do the same regarding electric cars.
This too will add considerable impetus to sustainable mobility.
We are creating the necessary limiting conditions and encouraging the market for electric cars.
The Netherlands would like to serve as the international testing ground for electric cars.
This is interesting for you as well because you will be able to test your electric cars in our country. Subsequently, our admission authority for motor vehicles can approve the cars for the European market.
In this way too, the Netherlands will be a gateway to Europe.
Because of their innovative nature, these Dutch developments are not only important for the Netherlands but also for other European countries and even for countries outside Europe.
We are following China’s plans in the field of ITS and traffic management with interest.
Over the past years you have made tremendous strides.
For example in Beijing in preparing for the Olympic Games of last year.
This certainly contributed to the success of the Games.
And here in Shanghai you are investing further in traffic management in preparation for the World Expo next year. We are watching what you do, we are learning from it and we hope to be able to make a contribution.
In addition, China is building a great deal of new infrastructure.
Last year, for example, China constructed a 6500-kilometre-long motorway.
That is almost three times as long as the total motorway network of the Netherlands (currently 2360 kilometres). You thus have the opportunity to use ITS efficiently from the outset.
In that respect, there is a large difference between our countries.
The basis of the Dutch road network is no longer changing very much.
Our attention is mainly devoted to maintenance and expansion to relieve bottlenecks.
The main reason we are working on traffic management and ITS is that we are reaching the limits of what our road network can cope with.
But these differences do not divide us.
We are interested in your resoluteness and the large scale of your work.
As I understand it, you are interested in our high-quality and finely-meshed infrastructure.
Therefore, we can undoubtedly learn a lot from each other, Chinese and Dutch, policymakers and companies.
And definitely if we make our data available and we both provide each other with true insight into our projects.
I truly hope that our cooperation will be solid in the four projects I mentioned earlier.
This can be achieved through the sharing of our knowledge and our data and information regarding the projects.
And in the wider context of ITS, I hope that we will very soon be able to welcome China as a member of the ITS World Forum.
This began officially last week in Stockholm.
And I am proud that the Netherlands is one of the countries at the vanguard.
The World Forum offers us opportunities to cooperate internationally on a global scale.
I am looking forward to the results.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I trust that at the close of this round table seminar you will have a good impression of the innovative approach of the Dutch government in the field of traffic management and ITS.
And let us not forget that we have experienced Dutch traffic and technology-related companies at our side.
Together with you, we are looking forward to finding opportunities for both China and the Netherlands.
Together we will achieve a greater benefit for society: faster traffic, safer traffic, less polluting traffic.
I am certain that today the seeds of all kinds of new initiatives will be sown.
The Memorandum of Understanding that I signed with Minister Li in Beijing is an outstanding basis for this.
I wish you all an interesting and successful round table seminar.