PRESS CONFERENCE ON ASIAN HIGHWAY NETWORK

PRESS CONFERENCE ON ASIAN HIGHWAY NETWORK

An historic agreement to complete a 140,000-kilometre highway network linking 32 Asian nations will open for signature on 26 April in Shanghai, China, at a regional ministerial meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), correspondents were told at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.

Addressing the press were Sulafa Al-Bassam, Chief of the United Nations Regional Commissions Liaison Unit; Erdenebileg Sandagdorj, Programme Officer, Office of the High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States; and Palitha Kohona, Chief of the Treaty Section, Office of Legal Affairs.  The moderator was Tim Wall, Department of Public Information.

Speakers emphasized that, once completed, the highway network will not only connect 32 Asian countries, many of them landlocked and low-income developing States, but also link Asia and Europe, improving opportunities for trade and facilitating the flow of people, goods and ideas.  Often likened to the legendary “Silk Route” of the first millennium, it was a significant step for promoting regional integration and cooperation.  The project was part of the follow-up to the Conference on Transit Transport Cooperation, which took place last August in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Correspondents were told that the agreement was needed to develop some 55 existing highway routes to the agreed standards, gain final approval for the routing plans and amendments and improve infrastructure and border-crossing facilities.  While much of the work on network development had already been completed or was under way, about 17 per cent of the highways still needed to be built.

Mr. Rahman said that for the first time the project demonstrated a sustained political commitment on behalf of Asian countries to upgrade and improve a key aspect of regional infrastructure –- the transport sector.  The Asian Highway Agreement would help to ensure equitable access to infrastructures and eliminate inequalities between countries of the continent, which found themselves at different stages of development.

Referring to a press release available in the room, he said that the economic landscape of Asia was today characterized by a significant growth in trade (some 40 per cent last year, according to ESCAP) and newly vibrant economies like Japan and Russia, as well as “the dynamic powerhouses” of China and India.  The highway project could become an important instrument in providing further impetus to that momentum.

Elaborating on the legal aspects of the project, Mr. Kohona recalled that the negotiations on the agreement had started a few years ago, but the idea of a roadway network had been around since 1959.  The inspiration for the Asian road system had come from an existing European transportation network, which was developed over the years on the basis of some 140 existing treaties.  The Asian project, which had originally “bogged down” under the political differences of the cold war era, had been revived in 1992 with the launching of the Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development Project, which was initiated by ESCAP.  After that, the need to formalize the Asian highway network had been recognized and endorsed at the 2001 Seoul Ministerial Conference of Infrastructure and last year’s meeting in Almaty.

He went on to say that the 32 participating countries had agreed on the final text of the intergovernmental agreement on the network on 18 November 2003.  Following the signing of the Agreement, which was going to open next week, the entry into force would occur 90 days after eight States had ratified the instrument.  Currently, it was expected that about 20 countries would sign on during the Shanghai meeting.

Emphasizing the importance of the Almaty Conference, which established links among roadway infrastructures, trade and development, Mr. Sandagdorj added that once those infrastructures had been established, the countries of the continent would need to make decisions on their use.  That would bring into focus such issues as the need to standardize border-crossing rules and vehicle insurance requirements.  He also stressed the benefits that the network would bring to landlocked countries of Asia, linking them to seaports and expanding their trade opportunities.

Responding to a question about the time frame of the initiative, Mr. Kohona said that eight ratifications was not a large number.  There were clear indications that at least four countries in Shanghai would commit themselves definitively to the project.  Expected to benefit immensely from the network, some nations would ratify the Agreement “sooner than later”.  As for when the 140,000 kilometres of highways would be completed, much of the network was already in place.  It would take some time, however, to upgrade some of the roadways and build the remaining links.

Mr. Rahman added that, for a variety of reasons, each country involved would choose a different pace of implementation, but the nations already participating in the project would motivate others to join.  He hoped the agreement would gain momentum as it developed.

Regarding resources, Mr. Rahman said that a substantial part of financing would come from such agencies as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and Japan Bank for International Cooperation, as well as larger and more economically developed nations participating in the pact.  Mr. Sandagdorj said that, while the final estimates for the cost of the project were still to be carried out, according to ESCAP estimates, the development of highways in North-East Asia, for example, required some $4 billion.  That network involved Mongolia, the Russian Federation, China and Republic of Korea.  To upgrade the highway in the three countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region -- the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Vietnam –- some $400 million would be required.

Responding to a question about the role of the United Nations, Mr. Kohona said that the opening of the Agreement for signature was only the beginning of the process.  Other agreements would be necessary to give full effect to the network, and support for the project would come from ESCAP, which would provide the secretariat and the negotiating facilities.

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