..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 11 April 2006
Press Release G/22/CS62/16

62nd Commission Session, 6-12 April 2006

Address by Kim hak-Su,UN Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Executive Secretary at the Special Session on the Intergovernmental Agreement on the
Trans-Asian Railway Network, 11 April 2006

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this special session on the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network. As you are aware, the development of regional cooperation on infrastructure projects has been a theme of this session of the Commission and we just completed a ministerial round-table on the subject. I would like to take this opportunity to briefly showcase the development of the Trans-Asian Railway network as a practical example of this cooperation.

Recognizing the new transport requirements born out of globalization, UNESCAP and member countries have adopted a responsive strategy in identifying the Trans-Asian Railway network comprising 81,000 km of routes of international importance serving 28 countries. Although the network contains a number of differences in track gauges, as shown by the different colours on the map, the development of containerization has provided a solution to this apparent incompatibility. Like in the shipping sector, containers now provide the opportunity for speedy and efficient transhipment at break-of-gauge points.

The TAR network is one of the building blocks towards the realization of the vision of an International Integrated Intermodal transport system for the whole region as envisaged by the Ministers at the Ministerial Conference on Infrastructure in November 2001 and embedded in the Seoul Declaration on Infrastructure Development in Asia and the Pacific. Already the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network came into force in July 2005 and provides the other fundamental building block for the region’s intermodal transport network.

The Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network which is being adopted by resolution at the present Commission Session will provide new impetus for regional development. The Agreement identifies routes of international importance that serve the immediate transport needs of member countries providing regional connectivity as well as linkages to Europe.

With the Agreement coming into force, common technical standards will increase the efficiency and viability of railway operation.

Importantly, the Agreement will 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. A similar process is already proving successful in the Asian Highway project.

You would all be aware that much of the region’s economic development has taken place in the coastal areas. Within the drafting of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network, member countries have already begun to identify stations of international importance that will have similar functions to ports away from coastal areas. These so-called ‘dry ports’ will act as consolidation/distribution centres, creating new economies of scale and increasing the attractiveness of rail transport. These dry ports can also spread the benefits of globalization and create employment opportunities for local populations.

The adoption of the resolution on the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network marks an historic step that paves the way for the signing ceremony to be organized during the Ministerial Conference on Transport which the Government of the Republic of Korea has generously offered to host in Busan from 6-11 November 2006. I look forward to welcoming you to this important event and witnessing the signing process.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen

The Secretariat looks forward to working with member countries for the further development of the Trans-Asian Railway and exploring the many opportunities that will be created. Indeed, through Trans-Asian Railway and Asian Highway initiatives, the secretariat seeks to promote international transport as a trigger for development based on a network of hubs of prosperity.

I thank you for your attention.

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