Department of Transportation Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Atty. Mark Steven C. Pastor spearheaded the Philippine delegation to the 43rd ASEAN Transport Facilitation Working Group Meeting and 14th ASEAN Transit Transport Coordinating Board Meeting on 27 to 29 September 2022.

Together with Ministry of Transportation of Malaysia and Head of Centre for Partnership Facilitation and International Organizations Fikry Cassidy, they tackled the new phases and challenges in transport facilitation due to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as ASEAN efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, emphasized the importance of TFWG, and highlighted other initiatives in cooperation with dialogue partners, international organizations, and transport associations.

The ASEAN TFWG is one of the four existing transportation working groups in the ASEAN. It is the coordinating and implementing arm of the ASEAN Senior Transport Officials Meeting, which carries out various programs, activities, and projects in the area of Transport Facilitation under the Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan 2016-2025.

In his intervention, Pastor explained that the Philippines has already completed the ratification of four transport facilitation agreements that will support the free flow of goods and movement, including the (1) ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit; (2) ASEAN Framework Agreement on Multimodal Transport; (3) ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Inter-State Transport; and, (4) ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Cross Border Transport of Passengers by Road Vehicles.

In addition, Pastor also updated the meeting on the recent undertakings of the Philippines on agenda items, particularly on the operationalization and implementation of the transport facilitation agreements, development of a legal framework to support multimodal transport, exchange of information on the implementation of sub-regional, trilateral, and bilateral cross-border transport arrangements, and progress reports on transport-related issues.

Representatives from the Civil Aeronautics Board, Land Transportation Office, Insurance Commission, Bureau of Customs, DOTr Water Transport Planning Division, DOTr Road Transport Planning Division, and DOTr International Cooperation Division were also able to join the meeting virtually.