NEA

Integrated international transport and logistics system for
North-East Asia

UNESCAP has taken the lead in helping member countries identify and formulate the Asian Highway and the Trans-Asian Railway. UNESCAP has also provided assistance to member countries in providing and enjoying competitive shipping and port services. Meanwhile, as countries pursue trade-dependent economic growth in the globalization process, there is an increasing demand for new trade and transport practices that can promote seamless transport by integrating different transport modes of railways, roads and maritime shipping to facilitate trade flows.

In order to address this issue, UNESCAP is undertaking the project on “Integrated international transport and logistics system for North-East Asia”. The main purposes of the project are to: (a) assist countries in adopting integrated transport planning and logistics concepts thereby improving efficiency and reducing costs and enhancing their competitiveness; and (b) promote multilateral cooperation for the development of an integrated international transport and logistics system at the subregional level.

The project has been implemented in two phases. The first phase (September 2002-December 2003) of the project involved extensive survey and research/study to: (a) identify critical areas for transport and logistics performance improvement and (b) prepare guidelines for countries to develop transport and logistics facilities to expand port hinterlands to access global markets. The draft of the study’s findings were prepared for further discussion in the second phase.

The second phase (January – December 2004) of the project focuses on the recommendations for a subregional integrated transport network and action plan based on the findings of the first phase. Implementation of these recommendations will be promoted at the subregional and national levels through the organization of a subregional policy-level expert group meeting and a series of country-level workshops.

Integrated transport and logistics is a priority programme in the second phase of the New Delhi Action Plan on Infrastructure Development (2002-2006) as endorsed by the Ministerial Conference on Infrastructure held in Seoul on 12-17 November 2001. This project is contributed to improvement of transport and logistics infrastructure and efficiency of transport operations through reduced physical and institutional bottlenecks in transport and logistics chains in the North-East Asia subregion.