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TRANSPORT: Asian Highway Opens Path to Regional Cooperation

Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Jul 4 2005 (IPS) - ûAsian governments will soon have a new symbol to illustrate their increasing spirit of regional cooperation: a network of highways that links 32 countries spanning Japan at one end and Turkey on the other.

An important milestone on the ‘Silk Route of the Modern Age,’ was crossed on Monday when the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network came into force.

First opened for signature in Apr. 2004, the agreement has already been signed by 27 countries while some key members, including Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Sri Lanka and Cambodia, have also ratified it.

Developed by the Bangkok-based, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), a United Nations agency, the 141,000 km- long, road is expected to greatly enhance intra-regional trade and facilitate tourism.

– It was made possible because many countries are collaborating more closely," said Barry Cable, director of ESCAP’s transport and tourism division, at a ceremony marking the coming into force of the agreement.

ôThis is not just a transport agreement, but a desire by member countries to work towards globalisation for all," Cable said.

When fully operational, this trans-continental stretch of roads will link Asian capitals, connect industrial and agriculture centres, join major seaports to river ports and connect major container terminals to depots, according to the ESCAP study, ôAsian Highway Handbook."

An estimated 26 billion U.S. dollars has already been invested to upgrade to international standards the roads that will be part of the network, according to ESCAP. ôHowever, there is still a shortfall of 18 billion U.S. dollars."

Furthermore, 16 percent of the roads that are integral to the highway still ôfall below minimum standards," Cable told IPS. ôThe roads have to be broadened to the new standards. The objective is to use existing roadways," he added."

Cable described as a ômissed opportunity" the fact that many neighbouring countries have not been able to make use of the new link so far simply because ‘’it is not extensive as it should be."

The roadblocks to easy movement of people and goods across national boundaries were many and ranged from open warfare to frustrating red tape.

ôThere was no uniformity at border crossings and the rules varied from country to country," Ravi Ratnayake, a trade and investment expert at ESCAP, told IPS.

"Hurdles, like containers being subject to different checks as opposed to a harmonious procedure, was a major impediment but now with logistics being made more uniform and rules harmonised, there will be a big difference to the way overland trade is conducted," Ratnayake said.

Before the early 1990s, the distrust between countries stemming from Cold War politics and the wars that ravaged much of South-east Asia came in the way of the cooperation necessary for such a sweeping project.

Today a vehicle beginning a journey on route AH1 of this trans- continental highway would start in Tokyo, get connected by ferry to South Korea and then drive through North Korea, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and end in Istanbul.

First floated in 1959, the dream of building an Asian highway network was also bogged down by countries reluctant to open their borders to the free market but preferring to protect their local economies.

But the new political and economic currents that have emerged since 1992 has given the long-planned Asian highways network a new lease of life. ‘’These changes resulted in increased international trade and sounded a wake-up call for transport infrastructure projects across the UNESCAP region,” says a background note by the U.N. agency.

Consequently, Asian governments endorsed a blueprint for smoothened relations among countries that were once politically inimical to each other at the 48th annual sessions of ESCAP in Bangkok in 1992.

While ESCAP officials have their foot on the accelerator they are conscious of existing social problems in the region as well as new ones the new routes could well pave the way for.

Already, the region is grappling with rampant human trafficking, the spread of HIV/AIDS and the proliferation of narcotics especially in the infamous ‘Golden Crescent’ and ‘Golden Triangle’ regions.

"HIV/AIDS on the Asian highway involving long-distance truck drivers are a concern," said Cable. ôWe are working with U.N. agencies to deal with it."

Asian tourism experts are also sounding a word of caution while welcoming potential benefits to the tourism industry. ôPlaces that are attractive for their unique culture in the region but were not accessible may now start attracting tourists,” said Peter Simone, vice president of the Bangkok-based Pacific Asia Travel Association.

‘’But that may result in the chase for the dollar in these communities, affecting their indigenous lifestyles,” he said in an interview. ‘’People will stop living the way they were to become touts and live off the dollars the tourists bring.” (END/IPS/AP/TR/IF/WD/MMM/RDR/05)