Asian Nations Sign 'Iron Silk Road' Deal

Posted 10 November 2006 @ 11:42 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

BUSAN, South Korea (AP) - For decades, officials have dreamed of a railway network spanning Asia, linking cities as diverse as Kuala Lumpur and Kabul, Yangon and Yerevan.

Greater connections among existing rail networks would bring remote inland regions and landlocked countries closer to vibrant coastal cities and ports, boosting commerce along the paths of ancient trade routes.

The Trans-Asian Railway Network, first conceived by the United Nations in 1960, came a step closer Friday with the signing of an agreement to implement what has been dubbed the "Iron Silk Road," evoking the trade caravans that long ago linked Asia with Europe.

Representatives from about 40 countries were participating in a two-day Ministerial Conference on Transport, sponsored by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the U.N.'s Bangkok-based regional office.

The Trans-Asian Railway Network, which comprises 50,000 miles of track through more than two dozen Asian countries, follows through on a similar U.N.-sponsored road program.

The Asian Highway Network is a 87,500-mile web of highways and ferry routes connecting Asia with Europe. An agreement on the network was signed in 2004 and came into effect last year.

A total of 18 nations, including Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Russia, South Korea and Turkey signed the agreement.

"It now rests with today's transport planners to advance action on this vision," Kim Hak-su, a U.N. under secretary-general and executive secretary of UNESCAP, said at the signing ceremony.

Political instability in Asia during the Cold War years, which included armed conflicts and insurgencies in Southeast Asia, hindered the plan's progress as has the ability of different countries to cope with the strain of rapid economic growth in recent years.
Though the agreement is a big step, much work remains to be done to fulfill it.

The pact sets out a framework for countries to coordinate the development of important routes. A working group will serve as a forum for policy makers and rail managers to work out details, especially financing.

One study by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations suggested that about $2.5 billion would be needed in that region just to fill in gaps between train networks of various countries.

"On this one, to get to the reality it's going to take a lot of work," said Steven Yang, an executive with Rotem Co., a South Korean railway systems supplier, with projects in 34 countries including Bangladesh, Iran, Nigeria, Brazil and the United States.

"The first obstacle they are going to have is rail gauge," Yang, participating in a transport and logistics exhibition in conjunction with the ministers' meeting, said, referring to variations in track width among different countries.

Myanmar, one of the countries that supports the agreement but which chose not to sign, cited "financial constraints" in upgrading its existing rail system in line with required technical specifications, Maj. Gen Aung Min, the Southeast Asian nation's rail minister, said in an address to the conference.

The South Korean city of Busan, one of the world's biggest container ports and the host of the conference, illustrates some of the lingering political difficulties of forging greater continental rail links.

A U.N. map of the proposed network includes the Korean peninsula. However, a plan by the divided North and South to restore rail links severed by the Korean War remains hostage to political tensions.

North Korea, a member country of the network, didn't send a delegation to the conference amid ongoing tensions over its nuclear program.

Geographically isolated countries welcome the idea of forging more rail and improved links.

Landlocked Armenia, which currently has only one operational outside rail connection to a seaport in Georgia, hopes greater eventual access will reduce the cost of moving goods overland, said Hrant Beglaryan, first deputy minister of transport and communication.

"Any kind of regional project which is related to cooperation in the field of transport is very important for us," he said.