and traffic management was organised in coordination with the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok for a group of road engineers from the Democratic People’ s Republic of Korea( January and February 2014).
The 4th Session of the Committee on Transport, which was held in Bangkok from October 15-17 2014, recognized the work of ESCAP in promoting increased levels of road safety across the region within the framework of the Decade of Action for Road Safety( 2011-2020). The Committee noted that programme of work of ESCAP endeavoured to address road safety across a broad range of issues, including, among them:
( a) improvement and enforcement of laws and regulations;
( b) introduction of safety measures for vulnerable road users;( c) expansion of safe infrastructure; and( d) the introduction of intelligent transport system to enhance safety through better traffic management. It further noted that member States had set national road safety goals and targets to reduce road traffic fatalities and improve road safety.
In December 2013, the secretariat in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Europe( ECE), the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway of India and the Institute of Road Traffic Education jointly organised the first Europe-Asia Road Safety Forum, in India. The Forum extended opportunities for road safety professionals from 35 countries from Asia and Europe to share knowledge and experiences.
In co-operation with the Korean Transportation Safety Authority, the secretariat published a study on best practices for road safety in Sri Lanka in 2014. The secretariat continued to work with the Korean Transportation Safety Authority in 2015 in a joint project on black spot improvement and recommendations.
Member States have already developed, or are in the process of developing their national policy documents and periodic action plans on road safety. Additionally, they may wish to consider strengthening their national initiatives through allocation of dedicated funds for implementation of their holistic plans on road safety, in order to achieve the global and regional goals, and targets on road safety.
Financing Road Infrastructure Development
Intra-regional trade in Asia and the Pacific is growing, not only in terms of absolute volume but also in terms of diversity of products, stage of processing and geographic scope. To sustain this growth, Governments must invest in transport infrastructure and create an enabling environment for the growth of transport services. It was estimated in a 2009 joint study of the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank Institute that transport infrastructure investment needs for the Asia-Pacific region would be in the order of US $ 2.9 trillion for the period 2010 and 2020. The Jakarta Declaration adopted by the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Public-Private Partnerships for Infrastructure Development in Asia and the Pacific, which was held in Jakarta from April 14-17, 2010, emphasized the need to apply innovative financing options for regional infrastructure development and maintenance.
Several meetings were organised by ESCAP to promote the exchange of experiences and information on public-private partnerships at the regional level and to assist members and associate members in meeting infrastructure development challenges.
During the process of developing and upgrading Asian Highway routes, national highways and other roads, it may also be necessary to consider promoting investments for the Asian Highway network as a priority; exploring various sources and forms of funding, such as public-private partnerships and other innovative financing mechanisms; ensuring the effective maintenance of Asian Highway routes and other highways through regular and periodic maintenance planning; and the establishment of road funds / boards.
Member States may wish to share their experiences and challenges in financing Asian Highway development.
Development of Dry Ports
In using the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway networks as two major building blocks, the
25