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Gaps remain in Asian Highway
Building and upgrading the incomplete 10,000 kilometers of the Asian Highway will require private sector involvement, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has concluded.
The highway, which will link most of Asia with Europe, incorporates 55 routes within the boundaries of the 32 member countries of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network. The Asian Highway Investment Forum met recently in Bangkok with the participation of 28 Asian countries, private sector representatives, and international financiers including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Japan International Co-operation Agency, Japan Bank for International Co-operation, and the Korean International Cooperation Agency.
They explored investment opportunities and different approaches to finance the project, mainly in upgrading the remaining 10,000km of the route to international standards. By Rajesh Kumar, Section Development In Bangkok Posted on Sun Nov 25, 2007 at 09:39:32 AM EST
The ESCAP representative told the forum that some progress had been seen in countries like Thailand, Mongolia, and Burma, but there remained a huge gap to fill in terms of financing and highway management. This would need private sector involvement, he said.
However, on the positive side, the report said a number of development agencies had pledged technical support and mainstream financial agencies like the World Bank had relaxed their restrictions, including interest rates, to promote the inter-regional project. An ESCAP study in 2005 concluded about US$18 billion would be needed to complete the unfinished 9% of the route, but the forum estimated the actual figure may be less as many countries were doing the work themselves. Critical links that still needed concrete pledges were in Bangladesh, especially for a 515km stretch estimated to cost $1 billion, the forum heard. Most of the upgrading efforts are needed in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, and Tajikistan. All sections of the Asian Highway in 13 countries meet the minimum standards set by the agreement. Those countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Georgia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. In Thailand, about 350km of the Asian Highway has been upgraded to eight lanes from four, mainly the routes from Bangkok to Chiang Rai and from Bangkok to Hat Yai.
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