Key Activities of REAAA

Yoo stresses major purpose of the REAAA which is to bring together Asian road builders

The International Road and Traffic Expo 2007 will include the 83rd REAAA(The Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australasia) board of directors meeting and the 6th HORA (Heads of Road Authorities) meeting to upgrade its international stature. We listen to Chairman Yoo Kyung-soo of the REAAA, who also is chairman of the Road-Transportation Research Institute of the Korea Road and Transportation Association for details:
What kind of organization is the REAAA?
The Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australasia is the official name of the organization. It is among the third largest road related organization in the world, along with the IRF and the PIARC. It was launched in 1973 with headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The purpose of its establishment is to promote the development of policies on roads and technology through education, academic activities, joint research, the exchange of information and the exchange of personnel who work in the road construction industry and the related sectors.
The association has 152 organization members and 1,350 individual members. It holds conference and convention in every three years. The Heads of Road Authorities(HORA) holds a meeting once a year. The board of directors meeting is held twice a year in member countries.
What are our country's activities as a member of the REAAA?
In 1987, the Korea Expressway Corp. joined the association as an organization member, followed by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation in 2001. Currently, Korean members include 12 organization members and 97 individual members.
In October, 2001, the association set up the Korean branch and at the association's 12th general convention in Manila in November, 2006, Dr. Yoo Kyung-soo was selected as the chairman of the association to serve until 2009.
What make up some of the events to be held related to the ROTREX 2007?
In order to boost the international prestige of the ROTREX, the REAAA will hold various international events.
The 83rd REAAA board of directors meeting and the 6th HORA conference will be held at KINTEX from May 9 to May 11.
What is the nature of the REAAA board of directors meeting and who participates in the meeting?
The REAAA board directors makes decisions on important policy matters for the association and meets twice a year. It has a chairman and 29 members. Korea has four board of directors and chairman.
What would be a major agenda for HORA meeting this time?
The major subject is disaster risk management. We have experienced major natural disasters in the countries in the region such as tsunami, and large floods a number of times and the HORA should take the lead in setting up a secretary-general's office in charge of taking care of various measures against these disasters.
At the meeting, there will be discussions on the matter to find a swift mechanism to deal with such disasters to make the following activities possible.
a) To raise the level of awareness among related organizations and member countries to strengthen the preparedness for such events.
b) Rapid evaluation of damages, decisions on required prevention measures and support on supervision of implementation.
c) Joint publicity activities on integrated plan for minimizing bad effects from natural disasters.
d) Taking emergency measures to recover the minimum function of the roads to the disaster areas and support such activities.
e) Providing aids to the countries with not enough material to recover damages from disasters. nw

Chairman Yoo Kyung-soo of the REAAA.

The 6th HORA Meeting is being held during the 2007 ROTREX at KINTEX in Ilsan near Seoul with construction and transportation ministers from 15 member countries attending.

The 83rd REAAA Governing Council in session during the ROTREX 2007 presided over by Chairman Yoo Kyung-soo and attended by construction and transportation ministers of member countries invited to the meeting.