ASTANA. October 12. KAZINFORM /Timur Bekturganov/ An international conference "Problems of borders crossing, security and an effective transit system formation for cargo carriage by road transport" has started its work in Astana. It means the first preparatory stage of the 18th OSCE Economic and Ecological Forum. The 18th Forum will be a main activity of the economic and ecological direction of the Organization's activity and will be dedicated to solution of the issues of the international transport infrastructure modernization in the OSCE region. The Forum will continue its work in 2010 in Vienne, Minsk and Prague after the preparatory conference in Astana on October 12-13. As Kazakh Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Konstantin Zhigalov noted, transport potential development of the OSCE member-states will become one of the key priorities of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the Organization. "The country's unique geographical location forms favorable conditions for transit corridors creation between Asia and Europe, will allow our country to effectively initiate and moderate processes of international transport infrastructure modernization", K.Zhigalov emphasized. The conference participants - representatives of transport, customs, frontier services from the OSCE region, international and regional organizations from 56 countries of the world - will discuss ways of modernization of procedures of borders crossing and will adopt an Action Plan on removing physical barriers in international transport.