experience in the development of the asian highway

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Madan B. RegmiOfficer-in-Charge

Transport Policy and Development SectionUNESCAP, Bangkok

High Level Expert Group Meeting on Trans-African Highway

Addis Ababa, 19-20 September 2011

Experience in the Development of the Asian Highway

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• Introduction to ESCAP Region• Asian Highway Network• Intergovernmental Agreement• Design Standards • Status of the Asian Highway• Transport Facilitation• Concluding Remarks

Outline of Presentation

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ESCAP Region at a glance

62 member countries 12 land locked countries 4 billion people (61% of

world population) 29% of world GDP Unbalanced Development

Concentrated in coastal areas

635 million people in absolute poverty

Presenter

Presentation Notes

UNESCAP covers a wide geographical area, accounting for 62% of world population, while it accounts for only 26% of world GDP. However, over the past decade of globalization, economy of the ESCAP region has been growing most rapidly in the world by becoming part of international production networks. Many countries have benefited from this globalization but many are left behind as the development has been concentrated in coastal areas. Around 635 million of the Asian people, or 16% of Asian population, are still in the absolute poverty living on less than 1 dollar a day. This means that 2/3 of world poorest (980 million) are living in Asia.

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The Vision for Asia and the Pacific

Development of an international integrated intermodal transport and logistics system

The Busan Declaration on Transport Development in Asian and the Pacific

Ministerial Conference on Transport 2006 Forum of Asian Ministers of Transport, 2009 Committee on Transport Ministerial Conference on Transport, Nov. 2011

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Development of the International Highway: Issues and Challenges

• Standards and condition of infrastructure• Maintenance and upgrading of infrastructure • Financing development and maintenance (gap)• Facilitation of border crossings• Infrastructure and operation

–Highway-Public/Private sector–Railway-Public

• National plan and policies –think beyond borders• Coordination among countries and agencies

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Asian Highway, Trans-Asian Railway and Transport Facilitation

Goal: To promote regional cooperation/trade Criteria for identification of routes:

• Capital to capital links• Industrial and agricultural centres• Sea, river and air ports • Container terminals & depots• Tourism attractions

Maximize use of existing infrastructure Coordinated plan for development

Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development Project

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Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network

• Process:– Formulation– Formalization– Implementation

• Infrastructure• Does not include soft issues

– Cross border transport– Transit rights

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North-East Asia 2002

South East and South Asia 1993

Central Asia 1995

Development of the Asian Highway142,000 km, 32 countries

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Developing the Agreement

• Regional EGM- May 2002• Drafting Meeting- Nov 2002• Four Subregional meetings• Intergovernmental Meeting- Nov 2003• Certified True Copies -Office of Legal Affairs• Opening for signature- April 2004• Entry into force: 4 July 2005• 28 Parties, 1 signatory and 3 potential

signatories

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Obligations of the Parties

Adopt AH network Develop routes in conformity

with standards Display AH route signs Working Group on the Asian

Highway meets every two years

Negotiating mechanism Unilateral change of border

crossing points not permitted

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Asian Highway Related activities

Asian Highway DatabaseRoad SafetySustainable transport developmentRoad investment- Public Private PartnershipsRegional projectsFacilitation Agreements

AH Routes used for Transit and Subregional Transport Agreement ASEAN, GMS, SAARC, ECO, Central Asia, SCO-

Road transport

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Annex I: Asian Highway Network

RouteNo.

Itinerary

AH1 Tokyo –Fukuoka – ferry - Busan-…-Seoul-……-Beijing-Nanning-Youyiguan-HuuNghi-Dong Dang- Ha Noi- Ho Chi Minh City- Moc Bai- Bavet-Phnom Penh-Poipet-Aranyaprathet-Hin Kong- Bang Pa In (-Bangkok)- Tak- Mae Sot-Payagi (-Yangon)-Mandalay-Tamu– Moreh – Imphal– Kohima–Dimapur– ……….Dawki – Tamabil –Sylhet – Katchpur– Dhaka – Benapol – Kolkata – Barhi – Kanpur – Agra – NewDelhi– Wahgah– Lahore–Rawalpindi(–Islamabad)–Peshawar–Torkham–Kabul-…Kapikule–Border of Bulgeria

AH16 Dong Ha - Lao Bao – Densavanh – Seno – Savanakhet – Mukdahan - Khon Kaen- Phitsanulok - Tak

AH42 Lanzhou – Xining – Lhasa – Zhangmu – Kodari – Kathmandu – Pathlaiya – Birgunj –Raxaul – Muzaffarpur – Barauni - Barhi

Includes highway routes of international and national importance nominated and agreed among countries

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Annex II: Classification and Design Standards

Primary Class

Access controlled highway, Design Speed of 60-120 km/hr, 4 lanes or more

Class I Design speed of 50-100 km/hr, 4 lanes or more (divided)

Class II Design speed of 40-80 km/hr, 2 lanes (wide:7m)

Class III Design speed of 30-60 km/hr, 2 lanes (narrow: 6m), Surface Treatment (DBST) can be used for pavement

“Minimum" standards and guidelines for construction and upgrading of AH to facilitate international road traffic

Presenter

Presentation Notes

One of the main obligations of the Contracting Parties to the AH Agreement is to bring the AH routes in their respective countries in conformity with classification and design standards as provided by the Agreement. Asian Highway are classified into 4 classes. Primary class refers to access-controlled highways; Asphalt or cement concrete paved roads with 4 lanes or more are classified as Class I and 2 lanes paved roads are class II. Class III roads are also 2 lanes but narrow and double bituminous treatment can be used for pavement. Class III is regarded as the minimum standard of the AH routes, but it is desirable to upgrade the type of pavement to asphalt or cement concrete.

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Asian Highway Design Standards

• “Minimum" standards and guidelines for construction/upgrading of AH to facilitate international road traffic

• Classification: Primary, Class I, II, III• Terrain Classification:

– Level/Rolling/Mountainous/Steep• Design Speed: 30 – 120 km/hr• Cross-sections: 3.5 m lane width, right of way 30-50m• Horizontal and Vertical Alignments

– Radius 30 – 520 m, vertical grade 4 -7% • Pavement Type: AC/ CC/DBST• Vertical clearance: 4.5 m• Road safety, environment

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ROK

Annex III: Identification and signage

AH1

AH4AH42

• Obligation of countries to place AH route signs within 5 years from the date of entry into force

• AH followed by route number

• Flexible - colour and size of sign, frequency

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Turkey

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Thailand

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AH Conformity to Design Standards

US$ 18 billion-priority needsAH Investment Forum

Class III28,148 Km

20%

Below III11,570 Km

8%

Other1,181 km

1%

Primary20,698 Km

15%

Class I23,988 Km

17%

Class II56,491 Km

39%

Presenter

Presentation Notes

This shows current state of Asian Highway in Member countries. Majority of roads-37% -are in Class II (standard double lane), while 14% are primary with more than four lanes access control (Expressways), and 13% of road are in Class I- more than four lanes but may with/without divider. We see that 9% about 12,000 km of roads is below Class III standard- therefore focus should be in improving these roads to meet minimum AH standards. Even some of the road meet the AH standards- their surface condition may be poor or fair – indicating that there is a need to improve or rehabilitate the road surface.

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Asian Highway: Missing Bridges

AH13: Mekong Bridge and 8 Km Road, Pakbeng, Lao PDR

AH1: Mekong Bridge, 2.5 Km, Neak Luang, Cambodia

AH1: Padma River, 5.5 km; Bangladesh

AH15: Mekong Bridge, Lao/Thai Border, Thakek-Nakhon Phanom, 2011

AH3: Mekong Bridge, Lao/Thai Border, Odomxai-Chaing Khong, 2013

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Road Classification

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Pavement Type

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Number of Lanes

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Traffic

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Surface Condition

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Asian Highway Priority Investment needs

• US $ 26 being invested or committed for AH (2005)–Upgrading of 26,000 km requires further US $ 18 billion

• Upgrading to class III and improvements• Further assessment of priority AH corridors• Asian Highway Investment Forum• Increasing role of private sector• Publication available at• http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/Publications/TIS_pubs/pub_2424/pub_2424_fulltext.pdf

•AH development included in nation policies and plans•Projects supported by bilateral and multilateral donors and Governments

•Development Bank’s 70% of financing on roads•ADB financed 21% of AH, 8% of TAR

http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/Publications/TIS_pubs/pub_2424/pub_2424_fulltext.pdf�

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Selected Highway Investment Projects

China National Expressway Network, 85, 000 km $ 240 billionIndia National Highway Development Project

Phases I-VII $ 53 billionRural roads (Bharat Nirman Yojana) $ 11 billion

Bangladesh AH1:Padma Bridge, 5.5 km $ 1.8 billionPakistan National Trade Corridor Improvement $ 5.3 billionSri Lanka 10 year Investment plan $ 200 millionThailand Intercity Motorway project $ 14 billionLao PDR Road Improvement Plan-2020 $ 345 millionCambodia Road Investment Master Plan $ 2.6 billion

Mekong Bridge, Naek Leoung $ 100 millionViet Nam Expressway Network Development $ 8 billion

ADB project on Regional Infrastructure Development-Feasibility of Highway and railways

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Progress in Upgrading the Network13

.0%

7.0%

28.0

%

36.0

%

16.0

%

14.5

%

13.5

%

37.0

%

26.0

%

9.0%

15%

17%

40%

20%

8%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

Primary Class I Class II Class III Below III

Classification

Pere

cent

age

200420062008

Presenter

Presentation Notes

In 2004, 16 per cent (or 22,000km) of the 141,000 km of the Asian Highway network was below the minimum standard. During the last 2 years, there was a significant progress in upgrading the AH routes and the portion of below Class III has been reduced to 9% (or 12,000km) in 2006.

Trans-Asian Railway Network

•22 signatories•16 Parties•Entered into force on 11 June 2009•Working Group on TAR

117,000 km, 28 countries10,500 Km Missing Links

Myanmar - ThailandMyanmar - India

China - Kyrgyzstan

ASEAN - China

Islamic Republic of Iran – Azerbaijan

(ongoing)

Thailand - Cambodia

Cambodia - Viet Nam

Thailand - Lao PDR(inaugurated March 2009)

Turkey - Georgia

(ongoing)

Islamic Republic of Iran – Armenia

Islamic Republic of Iran – Pakistan

(completed end 2008)

Building the missing linksCompleting the Trans-Asian Railway network

Islamic Republic of Iran – Afghanistan(ongoing)

US$ 24 billion

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Intermodal Transport and Integration

• Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway

• Integration of Highways and Railways• Development of Intermodal Interfaces

(ICDs and Dry ports)–connection to sea ports and maritime transport network–Development of dry ports along AH and TAR–Technical characteristics, guiding principle–Dedicated Freight Corridors–Encouraging modal shift

• Potential to develop Dry ports location as a centres for development

Working to Develop an Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Ports

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Facilitation of International Road Transport

ESCAP resolution: 48/11–seven transport facilitation conventions

Road Traffic, Road Signs and Signals TIR Conventions, Temporary Importation of Commercial

Vehicles, Customs Convention on Containers Harmonization of Frontier Controls of Goods, International

Carriage of Goods by Road

Conclusion of Bilateral/Subregional/Regional Transport Agreements

ASEAN+3, Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Shanghai Cooperation Organization -Intergovernmental

Agreement on International Road Transport with Multilateral Framework Agreement-TRACECA, ECO, SAARC Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (ADB) Euro-Asian Transport Linkages (EATL)

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Concluding Remarks• Intergovernmental Agreement

– Catalyst for regional and coordinated development:– Highways, Railways, Dry ports -Logistics facilities

• Utilize regional infrastructure for cross-border transport:– Good practices of transport operations in the region

• Financing and Investment Promotion

• Maintenance of the Highway

• Integration of various modes of transport, provision and operations of logistics services and increasing role of private sector

• UNESCAP ready to provide support the development of the Trans-African Highway

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Thank you!

Transport DivisionUNESCAP

Email: [email protected]://www.unescap.org/ttdw/

http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/�

experience in the development of the asian highway

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