MENA: the youngest regional division of UITP

A steering committee, which brought together UITP members from the region, was formed in Bahrain, October 2003, and launched the foundations of the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) Division. The MENA Division was then created in June 2005 at UITP World Congress in Rome.

The UITP MENA Division aims to:

• Promote public transport throughout the MENA region
• Provide opportunities for UITP members in the MENA region to share experience and information and to study issues related to their specific needs
• Reinforce the voice and involvement of the MENA on the development of public transport on a world-wide level and for the benefit of the international membership of UITP.

MENA: a booming region for public transport

The MENA region, which extends from Morocco to Iran, represents a market which is home to over 300 million inhabitants. The region is also recording sustained and rapid economic growth (+5.1% per year on average) and is heavily urbanised (60% of its population). With one or two exceptions, the bulk of the region's cities have not developed or organised any heavy public transport systems and have suffered from a lack of urban mobility policy at a time when transport demand is constantly increasing. Having grasped the problems and their negative impact on the economy and society, national governments and local authorities in nearly all the region's countries have now embarked on far-reaching structural reforms and on the building of major infrastructure projects.

The time for reflection is over for public transport in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The period for diagnosing and identifying problems has now given way to one of action. Nearly all the region's major conurbations are currently completing final studies prior to investment or, even better, have embarked on building major transport projects.

Following China and India, it is now the turn of North Africa and the Middle East to attract interest from investors as well as leading industrial groups and public transport operators. In order to ensure that these projects are concluded satisfactorily, or developed still further, the region today needs support from the public transport sector worldwide. Should these projects succeed in a region with an abundance of oil, they will make it possible to raise public transport’s profile even more significantly right across the globe.

The UITP MENA Office in Dubai

The MENA regional office was opened in Dubai on 13 February 2006 to better serve and support the members of the region. It is hosted by the Roads and Transport Authority (www.rta.ae). The regional office guarantees UITP’s presence in the region and is the link between the region and the main office in Brussels.
The regional office pursues the following objectives:

• Gather members of the region and offer them networking opportunities
• Foster exchange of knowledge between the members
• Develop region-based services and events
• Increase the participation of MENA members in UITP activities
• Develop membership

In addition to the services developed for the MENA region, the office is managing the organisation of the 59th UITP World Congress and Exhibition which will take place in Dubai on 10-14 April 2011.