 Florian Fichtl, Country manager
Honorable Minister Petar Mutafchiev;
Deputy Minister Martinova,
Colleagues in Government;
Distinguished participants and guests,
and members of the press, I would like to start by congratulating the Minister, the Ministry, the various agencies and commissions, and partners such as the EC and the European road safety charter, the joint Netherlands / WB “Partners for Roads” initiative, but also and especially various private sector and non-governmental organizations in Bulgaria for their commitment to improve road safety in the country. The World Bank is delighted, at the invitation of the honorable Minister, to join and support these efforts. We are committed to provide support to Bulgaria by bringing in global and European knowledge and expertise. Regarding Road Safety, the Bank has extensive knowledge of experiences and best practices from around the world through decades of investment in roads infrastructure. Bulgaria is not starting from scratch; a comprehensive national road safety strategy exists. The challenge – I understand – is to translate the strategy into actions, and to set free the considerable technical expertise that exists in various institutions. For that purpose we complemented our in-house expertise by committing additional experts with grant funding to carry out an assessment of the road safety situation to support the preparation of an implemental plan of action. The Government’s initiative is absolutely essential and timely, coming at a period of continued strong economic growth while at the same time the roads infrastructure still requires substantial upgrading to EU standards. The road safety situation in Bulgaria is difficult, with about 1,000 deaths and about 10,000 injured per year. Apart from the pain and suffering of victims and the grief of families who have lost loved ones, such casualties are a significant drain on the Bulgarian economy. Annual losses to the economy are estimated to be well over Euro 500 million per year, possibly up to EURO 1 billion. We all know, road safety is dependent on a number of factors, such as: the infrastructure (road design and maintenance); behavior and attitudes of drivers, pedestrians, the commitment of law enforcement personnel; the conditions of vehicles; etc.. All other things being equal, with economic growth and more persons driving on the roads more frequently and greater distances, deaths and injuries are inevitably set to increase. If we look at the projections, and add up the costs over the coming say five years, in terms of today’s population and GDP that is about 1 percent of Bulgaria’s population that could suffer death and injury, at a cost of about 4 percent of the GDP. Are we willing to pay that price? Fortunately, not all things are being equal but can be influenced; and this makes this workshop so important. As the Government undertakes considerable investment in road infrastructure, road safety will and must influence the design of roads and the standards of maintaining these roads; road safety is a factor of the responsiveness and capacity of the emergency health services; and road safety is dependent on the behavior of drivers and participants in traffic and their behavior in turn is subject to systematic enforcement of law by traffic police and the effectiveness of judicial service; and lastly education of the young has an important role to play. What is required is a holistic perspective on road safety – and we are delighted to be part of that holistic approach, to collaborate with partners in support of road safety. There is a role for everyone, nobody should stay aside and everybody must contribute, and in turn, everyone will benefit. In Bulgaria, the World Bank invests not only in the construction of roads but also in road safety, maintenance, institution building and policy dialogue. This workshop is part of our commitment; I wish you all a constructive and successful event; it is important to finalize – and implement the action plan on road safety. Thank you very much. |
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