The International Event organized on 3rd November 2022 under the responsibility of HFIP aimed to present the findings of the Reports and Case Studies on Agricultural Products Traffic in the Danube Region.

The purpose of the international conference was, among other things, to put the crown on the three regional workshops which were organised for the Lower-, Middle- and Upper-Danube Region countries on the topic of “Ports and Agricultural Traffic” during the DIONYSUS project. The main conclusion of the workshops was presented as well as relevant case studies from the region by excellent keynote speakers.

During the conference participants talked about agricultural products and the trends, challenges and opportunities regarding their traffic in the Danube Region.  An insight was gained into the topic through multiple perspectives with the help of the invited speakers. In the framework of new EU shipping qualification standards, the IWT labor market, European harmonization process, directives and standards, transposition into national legislation, tasks to be completed and digitalization aspects were presented by Mr. Csaba Bellyei representing the Shipping Authority of the Ministry of Technology and Industry.

Regarding Trends and current affairs in the field of grain trade in an international context, Mr. Péter Kiss, president of Hungarian Grain and Feed Association summarized that in general, the market cannot be prepared for anything, long term visions might help, new ideas are necessary for surviving and there are four affecting factors: weather, supply-demand, logistics and politics.

In the framework of trends in the transport market for agricultural products, political and covid-related impacts, industrial, infrastructural and investment related factors were presented by Mr. Robert Rafael representing Pro-Danube International as General Secretary.

The conclusions of the previous 3 regional working meeting (upper-middle and lower Danube regions) were presented at the conference together with the strategy and recommendations to optimize the waterborne transport of the agricultural products. Lessons learnt from the previous three Regional Workshops were also presented to the audience.

As a closure and summary of the conference, there was a roundtable discussion with the participation of keynote speakers, moderated by Mr. Zoltán Barna-Lázár.

The conclusions of the round table discussion concerning the solutions to save the industry were to raise motivation of stakeholders, to have adequate water management (for the sake of having drinking water and navigable Danube as well), liquid markets and good crops, well maintained waterways which is the highway for ships, also to raise the attractiveness from the sectors of other worlds.

At the end of the conference, Capt. Béla Szalma, president of HFIP presented Strategy and recommendations for optimizing the waterborne transport of agricultural products in the Danube Region. As concluded, the implementation of the waterborne platooning concept on the Rhine is more feasible than on the Danube. Other factors, such as the integration of the vessel train into the overall supply chain are also considered to determine its success.