FIA Secretary General Jacob Bansgaard joined international delegates in signing onto a landmark road safety agreement at the OECD’s International Transport Forum.

The ITF President’s Road Safety Assessment Framework for 2024 aims to improve road safety, by providing a simple and harmonised approach to road safety performance, road safety standards, and social financing for road safety initiatives.

The agreement falls squarely in line with the FIA’s own priority to promote improved Road Safety alongside private sector partners through the award-winning FIA Road Safety Index.

Jacob also contributed to two closed ministerial sessions over the course of the international three-day conference.

The first session, held on 22nd May, focused on the need to help organisations improve their safety footprint. As panel moderator, Jacob reminded audiences how the FIA’s award-winning Road Safety Index can help corporations to integrate their road safety impact with their wider corporate social responsibility reporting to drive improved community and safety outcomes. He was joined by Andreas Carlson, Minister of Tranport from Sweden, Stacy Davis, Vice President 3 M Transport Division, and Thomas Deloison, Mobility Director, WBCSD.

Jacob also spoke about inclusive transport during a second panel, entitled ‘Inclusive Transport: Ensuring Access for All’. Panellists – including Atsushi Uehara (Vice Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan), Juan Carlos Muñoz (Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Chile), Malick Ndiaye (Minister of Infrastructure, Land and Air Transport, Senegal), Ioannis Xifaris (General Secretary of Transport, Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Greece),  Kees van der Burg (Vice-Minister for Mobility, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands), and William Camargo (Minister of Transport, Colombia)- spoke about AI and its use in the development of inclusive transport infrastructure for all.

Jacob also attended a bilateral meeting with the Saudi Minister of Transport, Saleh bin Nasser Al Jasser, and met with the Moroccan Minister for Transport, Mohamed Abdeljalil. Morocco is set to host the 4th Global Ministerial on Road Safety in 2025.

Jacob said, "I am pleased to see the strong progress made during this year's forum, particularly through the launch of the ITF President Road Safety Assessment Framework. Here at the FIA, we are committed to improving road safety outcomes worldwide, and believe that initiatives like this have a key role to play in achieving this goal.   Our own award-winning FIA Road Safety Index is designed to help organisations to start or continue their own assessment journey, by making it easier to measure the safety impact of logistics, operations and other company activity.”

The ITF summit is the world’s largest gathering of transport ministers, and an opportunity for global stakeholders to gather and discuss ongoing developments within the fields of policy, manufacture, and development. This year’s forum focused on Greening Transport: Keeping Focus in Times of Crisis.