LANDMARK DECISION ADOPTED BY ESCAP TO EXTEND ASIAN HIGHWAY NETWORK

LANDMARK DECISION ADOPTED BY ESCAP TO EXTEND ASIAN HIGHWAY NETWORK

BANGKOK, 20 November (UN Information Services) -- Delegates from 32 members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) have brought the vision of an efficient, reliable regional transport network to a reality by adopting the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network.

The Intergovernmental Agreement lays a framework for coordinated development of the international highways in Asia, as well as between Asia and Europe.  This is the first intergovernmental agreement developed under the auspices of UNESCAP and the agreement will be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The Asian Highway route AH1 now extends from Pusan to Fukuoka and Tokyo.  Now, the Asian Highway network will extend to 32 member countries with more than 140,000 kilometres of highways across the whole of Asia.

"The availability of transport linkages and services is a decisive factor if countries are to participate in the globalizing economy.  Consequently, there is a need to put in place transport infrastructure linkages in anticipation of increased intra- and interregional trade", UNESCAP Executive Secretary Mr. Kim Hak-Su told the Intergovernmental Meeting, held from 17 to 18 November at the United Nations Conference Centre.

The formalization of the Asian Highway network through an intergovernmental agreement was one of the priority activities of the Regional Action Programme adopted by the Ministerial Conference on Infrastructure held in Seoul in 2001 and endorsed by the Commission at its fifty-eighth session.

A signing ceremony of the Intergovernmental Agreement would be held during the sixtieth session of the UNESCAP Commission at Shanghai, China, in April 2004.

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