The
Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network
was signed at Busan, Republic of Korea, on 10 November 2006
during the Ministerial Conference on Transport that took
place in the port city from 6 to 11 November 2006. On that
occasion 18 of the 28 member countries that are part of
the TAR network signed the Agreement.
(More
on context of Intergovernmental Agreement on Trans-Asian
Railway Network).
1. Background
2. The negotiation process
-
Regional meeting (November 2004)
-
Subregional meetings (April and September 2005)
-
Intergovernmental Meeting (November 2005)
3. Adoption of the
Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian
Railway Network
1. Background
The growth of international trade,
the continued surge of containerized freight through the
ports of the Asia-Pacific region and the recognition of
the importance of greater regional integration are encouraging
countries to seek efficient connectivity through transport
networks.
For the railways of the region, this new international environment
offers an opportunity to upgrade existing infrastructure
or construct new one with the aim of defining and operating
international corridors. It also calls for a higher level
of cooperation to find synergies between national infrastructure
projects and international corridors.
With this in mind, countries opt to define a framework within
which they can discuss and plan the future expansion, upgrading
and operation of the Trans-Asian Railway network. At the
60th session of the UNESCAP Commission, they agree that
an Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway
Network will provide such a framework and request the secretariat
to take action.
2. The negotiation process
The regional
meeting
The secretariat launches the negotiation
process for the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian
Railway Network at a Regional Meeting in Bangkok on 22 and
23 November 2004. At the meeting, the representatives of
27 member countries discuss and revise a draft Agreement
prepared by the secretariat with the assistance of the Office
of Legal Affairs at UN headquarters in New York. They recommend
that the draft agreement be further reviewed at the subregional
level in collaboration with relevant organizations
(Meeting report: English,
Russian).
The Subcommittee on Transport Infrastructure
and Facilitation and Tourism that follows the Regional Meeting
takes note of the support and active involvement of member
countries towards the Agreement and fixes an ambitious calendar.
It requests the secretariat to have the Agreement finalized
at an Intergovernmental Meeting to be organized in 2005,
adopted by the 62nd session of the UNESCAP Commission in
April 2006 and presented for signature at the Ministerial
Conference on Transport scheduled for November 2006. The
UNESCAP Commission approves this calendar at its 61st session
in May 2005.
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The subregional
meetings
In preparation for the Intergovernmental
Meeting, and following the recommendation expressed at the
Regional Meeting, the secretariat takes the negotiation
process to the subregional level. The objectives are to
(i) brief the member countries on the importance of formalizing
the Trans-Asian Railway network in relation to subregional
and regional integration; (ii) introduce the draft Intergovernmental
Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network; and (iii)
identify issues that may be raised for negotiation at the
Intergovernmental Meeting.
One meeting is organized by UNESCAP and the Ministry of
Railways, Government of India, in New Delhi (April 2005)
for countries of South Asia. It is hosted by the Asian Institute
of Transport Development (AITD), a regional, inter-disciplinary
centre for research, studies and training in the infrastructure
area having consultative status with the United Nations
Economic and Social Council and a collaborative Memorandum
of Understanding with UNESCAP (Meeting
report).
Another meting is organized by UNESCAP
and the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation
in Moscow (September 2005) for countries of the Caucasus,
Central Asia, North and North-East Asia. It is hosted by
the Joint Stock Company Russian Railways (Meeting
report: English,
Russian).
Meanwhile, the merits of the Agreement
for countries in South-East Asia were highlighted through
various forums such as the 1st Asia Rail Conference organized
by the Government of Malaysia (April 2005) and the Conference
of Chief Executive Officers of ASEAN Railways (Indonesia,
July 2005).
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The Intergovernmental
Meeting
Noting the smooth progress of the negotiations
at the regional and subregional levels, the 61st session
of the UNESCAP Commission endorses the implementation schedule
to have the Agreement finalized at an Intergovernmental
Meeting in November 2005, adopted by the 62nd session of
the Commission and presented for signature at the Ministerial
Conference on Transport to be held in 2006.
The secretariat convenes the Intergovernmental
Meeting to Develop the Intergovernmental Agreement on the
Trans-Asian Railway Network at UNESCAP headquarters from
28 to 30 November 2005. The Meeting is opened by the Executive
Secretary of UNESCAP (full
text of opening statement) and
attended by 51 representatives from 26 member countries.
A senior officer of the Office of Legal Affairs, United
Nations Headquarters, New York, also takes part in the Meeting
to assist the secretariat and the delegations through the
process of finalizing the Agreement (Meeting
report -
English, Chinese,
Russian).
3. Adoption
of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway
Network
At a special event organized during
the ministerial segment of the 62nd session of the UNESCAP
Commission, Dr. Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP,
presents the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian
Railway Network.
He highlights the importance of the Trans-Asian Railway
network as a building block towards the realization of an
International Integrated Intermodal transport system for
the region as envisaged by the Ministers at the Ministerial
Conference on Infrastructure (November 2001) and embedded
in the Seoul Declaration on Infrastructure Development in
Asia and the Pacific.
He remarks that the Agreement will provide new impetus for
regional development and play a catalytic role in defining
a common vision, coordinating programmes of action, and,
in collaboration with international financial institutions,
identifying investment requirements and sources. Finally,
he remarks that transport in general, and the Trans-Asian
Railway in particular, will trigger development based on
a network of hubs of prosperity (full
text of intervention).
Answering the call of Dr Kim Hak-Su,
the 62nd session of the Commisssion adopts the Intergovernmental
Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network through Resolution
62/4 on 12 April 2006 (Text
of Resolution 62/4 - English,
Chinese,
Russian).
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