Specific success stories.

• Position: Successful projects by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific or ESCAP

Perhaps more than any other ESCAP undertaking, the Asian highway and railway projects symbolize the effort by ESCAP to encourage cooperation in Asia and the Pacific. The idea to establish a highway running across Asia from Saigon to the Turkish border was launched in 1959. It has developed steadily over the years and has recently receive. d a fuel injection in terms of funding to keep it up with the speedy economic progress in the region.

The Asian highway project has strengthened the sense of regional identity in the Asia-Pacific region. By 1968, it was possible to travel from Europe to Chittagong in Bangladesh. In the eastern sector, one could travel from Singapore to Vientiane via Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

The then Executive Secretary of ESCAP, U Nyun (1957-1973), explained the project this way: "The Asian Highway was a rallying point for Asian countries. It was a way of getting in touch with each other again, for roads have always provided the means of contact between peoples and cultures."

The Asian highway as it stands today is the result of the steady and unrelenting work of ESCAP. With the opening up of the possibility for new routes connecting Asia and Europe, it was decided that an integrated approach would be the best way to improve infrastructure in the region. In 1992, the Commission approved the Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development (ALTID) project as an umbrella project comprising the Asian highway, the trans-Asian railway and the facilitation of land transport projects. ALTID is a priority for Phase II (1992-1996) of the Transport and Communications Decade for Asia and the Pacific.

ESCAP is now revising and improving the quality of the estimated 67,000 kilometres of road network in Asia with funds from the Government of Japan. The new criteria in highway classification will ensure the connection between capitals, important economic and industrial centres, major sea and river ports, and international container terminals.

Annual growth in the vehicle fleet (motor cycles and cars) is more than 5 per cent in many Asian countries and exceeds 10 per cent in China, India, Laos and Thailand. Growth in roads is most significant in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Mongolia where the length of the paved portion of main roads grows at a rate of more than 4 per cent per year. Development of road networks in Nepal, Myanmar, India and Laos is very slow, sometimes creating what is called "missing links".

New studies on highway...