AGREEMENT ON ASIA'S RAIL NETWORK COMES INTO FORCE

By D. Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, June 12 (Bernama) -- Countries throughout Asia are committed to
coordinate the development and operation of an international rail route linking
28 countries, as the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asia Railway
Network entered into force Thursday.

The network, comprising 114,000km of rail routes, aims to offer efficient
rail transport services for the movement of goods and passengers within the
region and between Asia and Europe.

The network will also provide improved access for landlocked countries to
major ports.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the event after eight nations ratified the
agreement, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (Unescap) secretary-general Dr Noeleen Heyzer said modern economies
could not generate long-term growth and employment without highly efficient
transport networks that were developed with a high level of integration.

"The timing of this agreement is particularly significant as leaders from
our region promote intra-regional trade to stimulate recovery from the economic
crisis. It will provide a more cost effective way of doing business and ensure
the benefits of trade are more evenly distributed across the region," she said.

The agreement comes into effect 90 days after China became the eighth
country to have ratified the treaty. The other parties to the agreement are
Cambodia, India, Mongolia, South Korea, Russia, Tajikistan and Thailand.

Since the agreement opened for signatures in 2006, the expansion of the
Trans-Asia Railway has been progressing at a steady pace.

For example, projects have been completed in Uzbekistan, where construction
of the 227km Tashguzar-Baysun-Kumkurgan line has sped up rail movements to
Tajikistan while the March 5 inauguration of a line spanning from Nongkhai,
Thailand, to Thanaleng, Laos provides landlocked Laos rail access to the port of
Laem Chabang.

The agreement also identifies stations of international importance, most of
which are located inland and have similar functions to ports in the coastal
areas.

The so-called "dry ports" would act as consolidation and distribution
centres in the hinterland, creating new opportunities for growth and helping to
bring the benefits of economic and social development to a wider population.

Heyzer said countries worldwide were now realising that rising demand for
transport services could no longer be met by roads alone as recent fluctuation
in the oil price, growing concern over energy-dependency and the environmental
impact of the transport industry were pushing policy-makers to promote more
environmentally-friendly and sustainable rail transport solutions.
-- BERNAMA