New life for Asia's 21st century Silk Road
By Raja M
MUMBAI - India, China and Russia have joined 23 countries in a literally far-reaching agreement to complete the 140,000 kilometer-long Asian Highway, a behemoth project already sowing visions of a new Asian commercial and cultural unity. The highway links Asian capitals, major industrial hubs, tourist hot spots, as well as air, river and sea ports.
In Shanghai on April 27, during the 60th annual meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), India and China joined efforts to re-energize the Asian Highway project that ESCAP first initiated in 1959. Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam were among the 23 other countries that inked the agreement as well. Bangladesh, North Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Turkmenistan are holding out. Russia signed during the first week of May.
The highway is expected to boost trade and give land-locked countries improved access to sea ports. Visions of a unified currency for an Asian Union, similar to that of the Euro and the European Union, might be a bit premature or belong to political fiction, but Kim Hak-Su, executive secretary of ESCAP, is already dreaming. "We took note of the precedent of Europe - that the Europe Economic Community started from the north linkage," he told media. "Now they are freely moving without visas. Our dream is something like that - so that will be the final aim." He added that the potential is "enormous".
UNESCAP officials say 83 percent of the road network is ready, and estimate an additional US$16 billion is needed for upgrading highway signage. Countries such as Japan and South Korea and funding agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have been financing the project.
China and the Russian Federation, with 25,579 kms and 16,869 kms respectively, have the longest stretches of the network that will reach from Southeast Asian jungles to Central Asian deserts. In India, Asian Highway routes cover 11,400 kms. The network will use existing roads, many of which will be upgraded. Each road in the network will be required to meet minimum engineering standards. The 83 planned routes on the highway will include rest houses, restaurants and gift shops that will undoubtedly stock Asian specialties from Indian sweets, Sri Lankan spices to Iranian dried fruits.
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