On April 7, Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works, Lydia Peeters, delivered a keynote speech on the importance of inland navigation as a sustainable transport mode and as a lever for economic development at the first stakeholders meeting of the PLATINA III project.
PLATINA III is a multi-annual European project that brings together knowledge and expertise to make the European inland navigation sector future proof.
In her speech, Minister Peeters emphasised the importance of inland navigation for the international position of Flanders as a logistics hub. The Government of Flanders wants to stimulate a well-connected logistics network in Flanders and promote optimally accessible international nodes, especially in and around the Flemish seaports.
To this end, inland navigation is crucial. In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 69 million tons of goods were transported on Flemish waterways. That is barely 1.65% less than in 2019. Flanders' ambition is to increase the share of the inland navigation sector in the modal split of the transport of goods to 20%. Currently, this share is about 13%. To facilitate this so-called ‘modal shift’, the Government wants to realize a reliable, efficient and smart waterway network with good connections to other countries.
This modal shift is not only an important policy ambition of the Government of Flanders, but it is also a central objective of the European Green Deal. The modal shift to rail and inland navigation must contribute to the general objective of the European Commission to reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector by 90% by 2050.
