An International Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network will be signed during UNESCAP’s Ministerial Conference on Transport on 6-11 November in Busan, Korea. The Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) Network means 28 countries will network their 81,000 km of railways stretching across Asia. The railway will unlock dry ports. The Ministerial Conference on Transport is organized by UNESCAP and hosted by the Government of the Republic of Korea for issues including regional road safety, financing options for transport and integrating systems more efficiently. Side-events include the International Transport and Logistics Fair, the Asia-Pacific Business Forum 2006 on Transport and Logistics and the Asian Land-Bridge Conference. A similar agreement guided by UNESCAP on the Asian Highway came into force in July 2005.

The third session of the Committee on Poverty Reduction organized by UNESCAP will take place on 29 November to 1 December at the United Nations Conference Center, Bangkok. The focus is on statistical indicators of poverty, with papers on "statistical challenges in monitoring the Millennium Development Goals" and "strengthening national statistical capacity through the promotion of the 2010 round of population and housing censuses". The social impact of poverty is also high on the agenda for discussions on "poverty and the informal sector". Participants will undergo training and share experiences on programme planning and evaluation for two selected projects: community-based solid waste management and disability statistics and measurement.

Discussions and training on Intellectual Property (IP) basics and how it relates to trade will be delivered to a number of sponsored and self-funded participants at a three-day function in November. The WIPO/ESCAP Colloquium on Intellectual Property from 6-8 November 2006 in Bangkok is jointly organized by UNESCAP and the World Intellectual Property Organization to raise awareness of trade and investment-related intellectual property rights including its implications for developing countries and its relation to competition and enforcement. The cultural importance of copyright will be covered by presentations including the protection of folklore IP.

Trade researchers put spotlight on services
The Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), an initiative of UNESCAP and the International Development Research Centre Canada, will hold its Third Consultative Meeting of Policy Makers and Research Institutions on 1-2 November in Macao, China. The gathering of academics and policy makers from the region aims to pinpoint regional trade research priorities such as international trade policy and facilitation issues. Up for discussion are topics such as Barriers to Trade in Education Services and how to trade successfully in services with a spotlight on the education and financial service sectors. Country case studies and comparative analyses of trade sectors will also be featured. The two-day ARTNeT workshop comes straight after the WTO/ESCAP/ARTNeT Post-Doha Research Agenda for Developing Countries Workshop from 30-31 October, also in Macao.

The Third International Parliamentarians Conference on ICPD (the International Conference on Population and Development) will take place in Bangkok on 21 and 22 November. The international parliamentarians' conference aims to promote and share advocacy experience to enhance policy on ICPD. ICPD looks at the success of population, maternal health and family planning programmes and promotes gender equality as the key to success. The Parliamentarians Conference is part of a wider global parliamentarians movement on population and development. HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will graciously preside over the Conference’s opening ceremony. Representatives from UNESCAP’s population section of the emerging social issues division will attend.