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Speeches: Bassam Anini, First Economic Affairs Officer (ESCWA), Lebanon
"Trade requires the
implementation of the Transport Corridor Concept in Asia (click on photo to enlarge) by Bassam
Anini Trade requires the implementation of the Transport Corridor Concept in AsiaI- International trade development prospects in AsiaTotal world trade (exports plus imports) increased by 75 per cent between 1990 and 2001 from $7.1 trillion to $12.4 trillion. In that period, total world imports increased from $3.6 trillion to $6.3 trillion while total exports rose from $ 3.5 trillion to $6.1 trillion (see tables 1 and 2). The increase in exports was therefore proportionate to that of imports, as should be the case. In the same period, total Asian trade rose from $1.7 trillion to $3.6 trillion, namely, by 112 per cent. Imports rose by 113 per cent from $ 0.8 trillion to $1.7 trillion while exports rose by 111 per cent from 0.9 trillion to $ 1.9 trillion. Because the increase in Asian trade exceeded that of world trade, the ratio of Asian to total world exports increased from 26 per cent in 1990 to 31 per cent in 2001 while the ratio of its imports increased from 23 to 27 per cent during the same period. While the ratios of imports to total world imports of South America, North America and Asia increased by 62, 26 and 23 per cent respectively, the comparable ratios of Africa, Europe and Oceania declined. With respect to exports, South America, Asia and North America saw respective increases of 33, 20.4 and 8 per cent while exports in Africa, Europe and Oceania declined. Given that the contribution of Asia to total world exports and imports is much greater than that of North America and South America, the increases in Asian export and import ratios to total world exports and imports over the period 1990-2001 indicate even greater prospects for Asian trade in the development of total world trade. In order to complete the picture, it is important to know what share Asia has of the world population and gross domestic product (GDP). The total world population increased by 13 per cent between 1992 and 2000, from 5.4 billion to 6.1 billion. During the same period, the population of Asia increased by 12 per cent from 3.3 billion to 3.7 billion. The ratio of its population to total world population therefore increased slightly, from 60.3 to 60.6 per cent (table 3). Between 1992 and 2000 total world GDP increased by 30 per cent from $24.2 trillion to $31.4 trillion while Asian GDP rose by 42 per cent from $6.2 trillion to $8.8 trillion. The ratio of Asian to world GDP therefore increased from 25.8 to some 28.1 per cent. Again, the ratio of the GDP of both North and South America to total world GDP increased as compared with that of Africa, Europe and Oceania (table 4). The 112 per cent increase in total Asian trade during the period 1990-2001 compared with the increase of 30 per cent in GDP and 12 per cent in total population in the same period is a further indication of the excellent prospects for Asia in world trade. II- The main corridors in Asia and need for development Notwithstanding the excellent recent showing of Asian trade, the continent's weight in the world economy as the largest and the most populous continent that is also the richest in natural resources has yet to be matched by its position in world trade. Asian trade is expected to thrive when trade barriers are dismantled under the new world multilateral trading system. However, the dismantling of barriers at macro or world level does not guarantee increased trade for individual countries and regions. Barriers and obstacles at the micro level, which restrict trade between countries and regions, must also be addressed. Such barriers have a negative impact on developing countries and regions, hindering trade between them and with developed countries and regions., Transport is one of the most significant of those obstacles to trade We must consider whether the limited range and high cost of transport options and the complicated nature of border crossing procedures constitute major restrictions to inter-Asian trade and Asian trade with other regions. There is no doubt that the lack of proper interregional transport linkages between Asia and Europe, Asia and Africa, Asia and North America and Asia and South America represents an immediate challenge in the context of globalization. Transport conditions and procedures at the national level, with the exception of in certain developed Asian countries, are equally unsatisfactory. Many Asian countries still lack a well-defined comprehensive transport policy and sub-sectoral policies on roads, railways, waterways and maritime transport. Those deficiencies are not confined to infrastructure but also include legislation, procedures, institutional and organizational arrangements, safety and pollution control. The status of roads and, in particular, of those that lead to border points between neighbouring countries, is poor. Regional connections are therefore far less developed than national road networks. Furthermore, there are very few bilateral or multilateral agreements that control traffic movements between neighbouring countries, and very few countries have acceded to international transit conventions, despite the fact that some countries have a considerable volume of transit traffic. The two United Nations regional commissions in Asia, namely, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) are conscious of the importance of transport in facilitating trade in their respective regions and with the rest of the world. The Asian Highway project (AH) was initiated in 1959 by ESCAP in order to promote the development of international road transport in Asia and facilitate international trade and tourism. In the late 1980s, the ESCAP region emerged as a growth pole of the world economy. As a result, there was increased demand for reliable and efficient transport, including road transport. Other encouraging developments also took place, including the emergence of container technology as the basis for inter-modal and multi-modal transport. Asian Highway classification and design standards developed in 1974 were revised in order to meet the following requirements: Recent trends in increasing gross vehicle weight, size and axle loads; Increasing traffic volumes; Compatibility of networks within the region and neighbouring regions (design standards, road signs, signals and markings); Environmental considerations. The AH network covers a total of 25 countries, including seven Central Asian republics. There are 42 routes each starting with the letter 'A'. The total length of AH network is over 90,000 t kilometres (some 40,000 km on five international routes and over 50,000 km on 37 sub-regional routes). At the beginning of 1990, ESCAP took the initiative in addressing land transport development problems in Asia in a comprehensive manner. At its forty-eighth session in 1992 the Commission endorsed the Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development (ALTID) project. Given its awareness that road and rail infrastructure was not sufficient to make significant improvements in international measurement, unless appropriate software for facilitating border crossings were in place, a special ALTID implementation strategy was also developed, putting special emphasis on the revision and/or formulation of AH and TransAsian Railway (TAR) networks, the integration of transport modes and facilitation of transport at border crossings. The strategy was endorsed at the same session in resolution 48/11. There are still parts of Asia where the AH/TAR network has yet to be formulated and integrated with the existing network, and that should be accomplished as rapidly as possible. Accordingly, AH/TAR routes must be identified in the Russian Federation, Turkey and the Korean peninsula. Of particular importance is the fact that western parts of highway systems in those first two countries have links with the European road network, and therefore some of the identified AH routes in those countries have the potential to provide connections between Asia and Europe. Those, together with links in Iran and Turkey, will provide a useful linkage between Asia and the Middle East. The ALTID project consists of the following:
In implementing ALTID, the initial focus was on:
In 1998 ESCAP refined ALTID strategies, and the major components were:
While existing and potential trade flows were the main criterion in the selection of routes, due consideration was given to the revised route criteria, as follows: Capital-to-capital links (for international transport);
The impact of the ALTID project has been:
In order to assess the impact of the ALTID project at the national level, a special survey on 25 countries in Asia was conducted in 1996. Replies indicated that the project assisted countries by providing them with practical guidelines on routes, networks and railway routes of international importance. The identified land transport routes and networks are gradually being included in national and subregional plans and programmes for transport development. In the ESCWA region road transport is the most important transport mode. Railways are not as well developed and currently operate in only five countries, namely, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Syrian Arab Republic. There are 33.45 km/ 1,000 km2 of roads in the ESCWA region while there are only 3.41 km/ 1000 km2 of rail The Agreement on International Roads in the Arab Mashreq, which resembles the European AGR Agreement, was prepared by ESCWA in order to identify interregional corridors involving its member countries, and was adopted by the Commission in 2001, at its twenty-first session. It will enter into force in October 2003. The Agreement includes a total of 23 routes (13 N-S and 10 E-W) with a total length of over 33,000 km. The letter 'M' and the corresponding route number identify each route, as shown in the road sign specially designed for the Agreement (see figure below). Agreement routes are set forth in the table below.
When fully implemented, the Agreement on International Roads will provide a good connection between the ESCWA region and Africa, Europe and the rest of Asia. The M40extension will connect directly with A2 in Asia and the M45 route will connect directly with E98 in Europe. There are many other potential transport linkages between ESCWA and the other regions. Consultations on interregional linkages were held by ESCAP with Turkey and Iran. The latter was agreeable to the land transport link identified in the Cairo sessions and suggested that routes through Iran, Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republicn Arab Republic should be identified for the purpose of providing direct access to the Mediterranean ports of Lattakia and Tartus. Clarification is sought on the status of the link between Albu Kamal and Deir Ez Zor in the Syrian Arab Republic. During the meeting with Turkish officials, three additional interregional links were proposed, namely, CE 70/R05 and E 70l/MIO. ESCAP and the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) are cooperating in a joint project on transport links between Asia and Europe and have submitted detailed proposals for routes which are detailed in their report. The focus of the project jointly executed by the five regional commissions, entitled 'Capacity -building in developing interregional land and land-sea transport linkages' (see box for a summary of the project) is to identify the potential land and land-sea linkages that are economically feasible. The objectives of the project are to enable the respective countries, particularly the developing countries of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), ECE, ESCAP, ESCWA and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), to meet the challenges of the rapidly globalizing economy by strengthening their national capacities, assist them in the development of interregional land and land-sea transport linkages and promote interregional cooperation in the field of transport in order to facilitate interregional trade and tourism. Other objectives of the project include providing assistance to those countries in enhancing their national capacities to develop and harmonize interregional transport infrastructure through the identification of interregional transport linkages and corridors. The prospects for improved trade between Asia and Europe are tremendous, and ESCWA is strategically located where the three great landmasses of Asia, Africa and Europe meet. The existence of a wide land transport network that is well connected and integrated will enhance trade prospects. The southern borders of Turkey with both the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq, together with the Eastern Mediterranean coastline of the Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon, constitute the frontline of the ESCWA region with Europe. In this connection railways can play a major role,
especially in the movement of goods on a large scale. The Agreement on
International Railways in the Arab Mashreq was a first step towards identifying
corridors that will provide direct connections with their European and Asian
counterparts. There are a total of 13 corridors (see table below): six N-S with
a total length of 11,132 km and seven E-W with a total length of 8,396 km. The
railway link (R25) between Damascus and Aleppo continues to Midan Ikbis to the
Turkish standard gauge network and through it to the Trans-Asian railway network
and the European standard gauge network.
Joint project on capacity-building in developing interregional land and land-sea transport linkages This project, which was approved by the General Assembly in December 2001, will be jointly executed by the five regional commissions from 2002 to 2006, with a total budget of $1.25 million and ESCWA as the coordinator. The objective of the project is to assist the member countries of the five regional commissions in strengthening their national capacities for developing interregional land and land-cum-sea transport linkages and to promote interregional cooperation to facilitate interregional trade and tourism. Implementation of the project should enable countries to identify potential interregional transport linkages, strengthen national capacities to identify the physical and non-physical impediments to the movement of goods and passengers at all stages, and operationalize an interregional network of transport linkages. The project will also provide advisory services for interested member countries and establish e-mail contacts and institutions in the form of a network. In order to inaugurate the project, focal points must be established, an inaugural meeting convened and national focal points identified. The last should assist in identifying national highway and railway experts who will undertake the preparation of country reports. It is expected that by 2003 country reports will be finalized on the status of roads and railways, together with details on the seaport connections for mutimodal transport operations in the countries concerned. In each commission, a number of countries that have potential connections with other regions have been identified. In the ESCWA region those include Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine (OPT), Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic and the United Arab Emirates. It is also envisaged that in 2003 major maritime routes across the Mediterranean Sea that have the potential to provide efficient land-sea transport routes for trade between major destinations in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America and provide alternatives to the traditional routes will be identified. Other aspects of the project will be implemented in the period 2003 -2006, including the organization of interregional workshops to raise official awareness of the importance of improving facilitation measures. An interregional workshop will be held in order to enhance the capacity of the officials in the countries concerned to appraise inter-country transport links. An in-depth evaluation of major land-sea links will be prepared and expert group meetings will be convened in order to discuss the findings of the corridor study and promote some of the routes through public-private partnerships. National workshops for capacity-building at the national level for raising awareness of international conventions on border crossings, their implications and benefits and how to accede to them will also be organized. Trade between Europe and the ESCWA region can be enhanced tremendously if transport considerations are taken into account. However certain tasks must be undertaken, including the following:
III Harmonization of European and Asian network and technical/operational requirements and road and other transport modes in international transport corridors In order to establish interregional linkages between Asia and Europe and between Asia and Africa through the Middle East, there is a need to identify possible linkages which include:
The second Pan-European Transport Conference (PETRC) held in Crete in March 1994 developed the corridor concept* and identified a number of corridors across Europe to create on a Pan-European scale a common transport space in which transport infrastructure and markets offer the same high level of performance. The concept was addressed in the third PETRC in Helsinki in 1997 in order to further develop it from conceptualization to realization. Since then, several countries in Central Asia and the Far East have expressed interest in extending those trade routes to their territories. The Russian Federation, for example, has shown interest in North-South corridors to Bandar Abbas and other ports on the Indian Ocean for historical and strategic reasons. China, on the other hand, is interested in the Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, and Far East route (the former Silk Road) and has taken several measures to upgrade its railways lines along this corridor. The significant point here is that the proposed alignment of the corridor bypasses the ESCWA region on the mainland and represents a potential threat to the traditional sea routes across the Suez Canal. Special reference was made to the advantages of connecting Asia corridors with Europe through the ESCWA region and the East Mediterranean ports. The Integrated Transport System in the Arab Mashreq (ITSAM) network is the only means of connecting Asia with Africa and, in particular, North Africa. The joint project on capacity-building in developing interregional land and land-sea transport linkages broadens the concept of corridors to include sea corridors. The point of concern from the ESCWA perspective is that such prospective traffic will not pass through the ESCWA region. A major way to attract traffic to the region could be through R10 on the ITSAM network once the Albu Kamal-Deir Ez Zour section has been completed. A major land and land -sea corridor of interest to the ESCWA region would be from Iran via ferry train across the Gulf to the United Arab Emirates and thence to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Europe. Another land-sea route extends from Scandinavia southwest to Moscow, the Caspian Sea Tehran Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormus. Side routes from Hamburg and Central Europe are also envisaged. From Bandar Abbas, ferry boats could carry the train toward Muscat and the Indian subcontinent or to Dubai, Dammam and Riyadh. It is estimated that a ferry boat of 323 m length and 40 m width can accommodate on board up to 380 rail wagons and 500 passengers. Cargo delivery time from Hamburg to Dubai along this corridor is estimated at 8 days compared with 20 days along the traditional sea route. The main advantage here is that through multimodal operations cargo/container handling of inter modal points could be reduced drastically. |
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