Japan 2004 – Day 4 (A day with the IRU)

The International Road Transport Union is quite a remarkable organization. Based in Geneva, the IRU represents the entire road transport industry world-wide. It speaks for the operators of coaches, taxis and trucks, from large transport fleets to driver-owners. By pushing for standards and working with various inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, the IRU is able to have a positive impact on vehicle safety and efficiency and, through congestion and pollution reduction, on the environment. The IRU also knows how to organize a near flawless international event.

The 29th IRU World Congress opening ceremony rivaled those held by the Olympic Games. The conference took place at the historic Port of Yokohama, 18 miles south of Tokyo. The InterContinental Grand Yokohama Hotel was quite impressive on it’s own but the National Convention Hall, Pacifico Yokohama next door was awesome. With over 5,000 seats, this is one of the world’s largest convention halls. It is constructed in the shape of a giant shell, and has outstanding audiovisual, lighting and simultaneous interpreting facilities. This latter feature was important because the 1,450 attendees came from five continents and 58 countries. Speeches were simultaneously translated into English, French, German, Russian, Farsi, Turkish, Spanish, and Japanese. When the conferenceis held again in two years, Chinese will certainly be added to the list. (read more)