А. Abbasov greeted the participants and spoke about the importance of the workshop on this relevant topic. He noted that the location of Azerbaijan at the intersection of the East-West and North-South transport corridors, as well as the creation of the new Zangezur transport corridor, make our country's serving as an international transport hub one of the key priorities of future development. He noted that the economies of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the wider SPECA region are undergoing significant changes in the movement of goods, information, and services across borders, which increases the demand for efficient, transparent, and compatible multimodal transport systems. At the core of these transformations are UN standards – UN/CEFACT, reference data models, and digitalization tools that ensure global compatibility. Emphasizing that this process is of particular importance, especially for multimodal corridors such as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, A. Abbasov noted that the successful trade facilitation depends on the interaction of railways, ports, road transport, shipping, customs, and logistics operators. Noting that Azerbaijan fully supports this direction, the academician spoke about the creation of digital corridors and border systems based on internationally agreed reference models.