The planned network runs a total of 87,799 miles (140,479 km). In Myanmar, total 3,003 km (1,877 miles).
AH1, 20,557 km (12,848 miles); Tokyo, Japan- MYANMAR to border between Turkey and Bulgaria(with AH5)
AH2, 13,177 km (8326 miles); Denpasar, Indonesia- MYANMAR to Khosravi, Iran
- AH14, 2,077 km (1298 miles); Hai Phong, Vietnam to Mandalay, Myanmar (on AH1/AH2)
- AH41, 948 km (592.5 miles); border between Myanmar and Bangladesh to Mongla, Bangladesh .According to Om Prakash, an advisor with in New Delhi: “It’s an excellent step taken by ESCAP to gather all the Asian countries under one crown but the problem with this project is political disputes between some countries, notably Pakistan and Myanmar, which is delaying the project”.
India views the project favourably since it would increase trade with its neighbours, especially Pakistan and Myanmar.
The Asian Highway (AH) project, also known as the Great Asian Highway,
is a cooperative project among countries in Asia and Europe and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), to improve the highway systems in Asia. It is one of the three pillars of Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development (ALTID) project, endorsed by the ESCAP commission at its forty-eighth session in 1992, comprising Asian Highway, Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) and facilitation of land transport projects.
Agreements have been signed by 32 countries to allow the highway to cross the continent and also reach to Europe. Some of the countries taking part in the highway project are India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh.[1] A significant part of the funding comes from the larger, more advanced nations as well as international agencies such as the Asian Development Bank.
The project aims to make maximum use of the continent’s existing highways to avoid the construction of newer ones, except in cases where missing routes necessitate their construction. Project Monitor, an Asian infrastructure
news website, has commented that the:
“ | early beneficiaries of the Asian Highway project are the planners within the national land transport department of the participating countries [since] it assists them in planning the most cost-effective and efficient routes to promote domestic and international trade. Non-coastal areas, which are often negligible, are the other beneficiaries.[1] |
” |
However, in the mid-2000s some transportation experts were sceptical about the viability of the project given the economic and political climate in both South and South-East Asia.
The proposed 140,000-km Asian Highway, the longest road network in the world linking 32 countries, including India, is finally taking shape. Transport
experts in India are, however, sceptical about the viability of the project
given the current economic and political situation in South and South-East Asia.
The Asian Highway (AH) project is being undertaken by the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), specifically its Transport and Tourism Division.
“It’s an excellent step taken by ESCAP to gather all the Asian countries under one crown but the problem with this project is political disputes between some countries, notably Pakistan and Myanmar, which is delaying the project,” Om Prakash, Advisor, International Consultant and Technocraft Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, says.
India is keen to develop the Asian Highway as it would increase trade with her neighbours, especially
Pakistan and Myanmar. For instance, New Delhi is forging closer relations with Yangon by encouraging GAIL (India) Ltd and ONGC to export its products to Myanmar.
“The agreement between Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and
Thailand (signed in 2003) needs to be considered by India as an international
link for trade, while retaining the presently designated AH route through
Tambli, Bangladesh, and Imphal, India,” Sanjoy Hazarika Managing Trustee, Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research explains.
New Delhi is also hopeful that the mega project will bring India and Pakistan closer, more so since the resumption of bus and train services between the two countries.
Says Hazarika, “Given its extensive geographical coverage and the
recent move to integrate it with other means of transportation, the Asian
Highway project requires collective effort and close collaboration among the
Asian countries.”
The Asian Highway project will crisscross the Asian continent and reach Europe. For this, inter-governmental agreements have been
signed between 32 countries; last year India became the 24th country to sign the Asian Highway Agreement. Some of the other signatories are Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh. A significant part of the funding for the project has come from the larger or more economically advanced nations as well as multilateral agencies like the Asian Development Bank. The project is expected to be completed by 2010.
History
The AH project was initiated by the United Nations in 1959 with the aim of promoting the development of international road transport in the region. During the first phase of the project (1960–1970) considerable progress
was achieved, however, progress slowed down when financial assistance was suspended in 1975.
ESCAP has conducted several projects in cooperation with AH member countries step by step after the endorsement of ALTID in 1992.
The Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network (IGA) was adopted on November 18, 2003, by the Intergovernmental Meeting; the IGA includes Annex I, which identifies 55 AH routes among 32 member countries totalling approximately 140,000 km (87,500 miles), and Annex II “Classification and Design Standards”. During the 60th session of the ESCAP
Commission at Shanghai, China, in April 2004, the IGA treaty was signed by 23 countries. By 2007, 28 countries were signatories, which subsequently rose to 32 countries in 2008.
THE CONTRACTING PARTIES, CONSCIOUS of the need to promote and develop international road transport in Asia and with neighbouring regions, RECALLING the cooperation among members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in the formulation and operationalization of the Asian Highway network, CONSIDERING that in order to strengthen relations and promote international trade and tourism among members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission forAsia and the Pacific it is essential to develop the Asian Highway network to the requirements of international transport and the environment, keeping also in view the introduction of efficient international intermodal transport, CONTINUING the cooperative efforts for planning, development and improvement of international road transport within Asia and between Asia and neighbouring regions, HAVE AGREED as follows:
Article 1
Adoption of the Asian Highway network
The Contracting Parties, hereinafter referred to as the Parties, adopt the proposed highway network hereinafter referred to as the “Asian Highway network” and described in annex I to this Agreement, as a coordinated plan for the development of highway routes of international importance which they intend to undertake within the framework of their national programmes.
LIST OF THE ASIAN HIGHWAY ROUTES Asian Highway routes substantially crossing more than one subregion
AH route number AH1
Itinerary
Tokyo – Fukuoka – ferry – Pusan – Kyongju – Taegu – Taejon – Seoul – Munsan – Gaesung – Pyongyang – Sinuiju – Dandong – Shenyang – Beijing – Shijiazhuang – Zhengzhou –Xinyang – Wuhan – Changsha – Xiangtan – Guangzhou (– Shenzhen) – Nanning –Youyiguan – Huu Nghi – Dong Dang – Ha Noi – Vinh – Dong Ha – Hue – Da Nang – Hoi An– Nha Trang – Bien Hoa (– Vung Tau) – Ho Chi Minh City – Moc Bai – Bavet – Phnom Penh– Poipet – Aranyaprathet – Kabin Buri – Hin Kong – Bang Pa-in (– Bangkok) – Nakhon Sawan – Tak – Mae Sot – Myawadi – Payagyi (– Yangon) – Meiktila – Mandalay – Tamu –Moreh – Imphal – Kohima – Dimapur – Nagaon – Jorabat (– Guwahati) – Shillong – Dawki –Tamabil – Sylhet – Katchpur – Dhaka – Jessore – Benapol – Bongaon – Kolkata – Barhi –Kanpur – Agra – New Delhi – Attari – Wahgah – Lahore – Rawalpindi (– Islamabad) –Hassanabdal – Peshawar – Torkham – Kabul – Kandahar – Dilaram – Herat – Islam Qala –Dogharun – Mashhad – Sabzevar – Damghan – Semnan –Tehran – Qazvin – Tabriz –Eyvoghli – Bazargan – Gurbulak – Dogubayazit – Askale – Refahiye – Sivas – Ankara –Gerede – Istanbul – Kapikule – Border of Bulgaria
AH2
Denpasar – Surabaya – Surakarta – Semarang – Cikampek (– Bandung) – Jakarta (– Merak) – ferry – Singapore – Senai Utara – Seremban – Kuala Lumpur – Butterworth –Bukit Kayu Hitam – Sa Dao – Hat Yai – Bangkok – Bang Pa-in – Nakhon Sawan – Tak –Chiang Rai – Mae Sai – Tachilek – Kyaing Tong – Meiktila – Mandalay – Tamu – Moreh –Imphal – Kohima – Dimapur – Nagaon – Jorabat (– Guwahati) – Shillong – Dawki – Tamabil– Sylhet – Katchpur – Dhaka – Hatikamrul – Banglabandha – Siliguri – Kakarbhitta –Pathlaiya – Narayanghat – Kohalpur – Mahendranagar – Bramhadev Mandi – Banbasa –Rampur – New Delhi – Attari – Wahgah – Lahore – Multan – Rohri – Quetta – Taftan –Mirjaveh – Zahedan – Kerman – Anar – Yazd – Salafchegan (– Tehran) – Saveh – Hamadan– Khosravi
Asian Highway routes within subregions, including those connecting to neighbouring subregions, and Asian Highway routes located within member States South-East Asia
AH14
Hai Phong – Ha Noi – Viet Tri – Lao Cai – Hekou – Kunming – Ruili – Muse – Lashio –Mandalay
South Asia
AH41
Border of Myanmar – Teknaf – Cox’s Bazar – Chittagong – Katchpur – Dhaka – Hatikamrul– Jessore – Mongla
Single-digit routes run across the whole continent: (Wiki)
- AH1, 20,557 km
(12,848 miles); Tokyo, Japan to border between Turkey and Bulgaria(with AH5) - AH2, 13,177 km
(8326 miles); Denpasar, Indonesia to
Khosravi, Iran - AH3, 7,331 km
(4582 miles); Ulan-Ude, Russia (on
AH6) to Tanggu,
China; and Shanghai, China (on AH5)
to Chiang
Rai, Thailand and Kyaing
Tong, Myanmar (both on AH2) - AH4, 6,024 km
(3765 miles); Novosibirsk,
Russia (on AH6) to Yarantai,
Mongolia; and Urumqi,
China (on AH5) to Karachi, Pakistan
(on AH7) - AH5, 10,380 km
(6488 miles); Shanghai, China (on
AH3) to border between Turkey and Bulgaria(with AH1) - AH6, 10,475 km
(6547 miles); Busan, South Korea (the
start of Jungang-no Road) to border between Russia and Belarus - AH7, 5,868 km
(3667.5 miles); Yekaterinburg, Russia to Karachi, Pakistan (on AH4) - AH8, 4,718 km
(2949 miles); border between Russia and Finland to Bandar
Emam, Iran
10-29 and 100-299 are assigned to South-East Asia:
- AH11, 1,588 km
(992.5 miles); Vientiane, Laos (on
AH12) to Sihanoukville,
Cambodia - AH12, 1,195 km
(747 miles); Nateuy, Laos
(on AH3) to Hin Kong,
Thailand (on AH1) - AH13, 730 km
(456 miles); Oudomxai, Laos (on AH12) to Nakhon Sawan, Thailand (on AH1/AH2) - AH14, 2,077 km
(1298 miles); Hai Phong, Vietnam
to Mandalay, Myanmar (on AH1/AH2) - AH15, 566 km
(354 miles); Vinh, Vietnam (on AH1) to Udon Thani, Thailand (on AH12) - AH16, 1,032 km
(645 miles); Dong Ha, Vietnam (on
AH1) to Tak, Thailand (on
AH1/AH2) - AH18, 1,042 km
(651 miles); Hat
Yai, Thailand (on AH2) to Johor Bahru Causeway, Malaysia - AH19, 459 km
(287 miles); Nakhon
Ratchasima, Thailand (on AH12) to Bangkok, Thailand (on AH2) - AH25, 2,549 km (1593 miles); Banda Aceh, Indonesia to Merak, Indonesia (on AH2)
- AH26, 3,517 km (2198 miles); Laoag, Philippines to Zamboanga, Philippines
30-39 and 300-399 are assigned to East Asia and North-East Asia:
- AH30, 2,739 km
(1712 miles); Ussuriysk, Russia
(on AH6) to Chita, Russia (on AH6) - AH31, 1,595 km (997 miles); Belogorsk,
Russia (on AH30) to Dalian, China - AH32, 3,748 km
(2342.5 miles); Sonbong, North Korea
(on AH6) to Khovd,
Mongolia (on AH4) - AH33, 575 km
(359 miles); Harbin, China (on AH6/AH31)
to Tongjiang, China - AH34, 1,033 km
(646 miles); Lianyungang,
China to Xi’an, China (on AH5)
40-59 and 400-599 are assigned to South Asia:
- AH41, 948 km
(592.5 miles); border between Myanmar and Bangladesh to Mongla, Bangladesh - AH42, 3,754 km
(2346 miles); Lanzhou, China (on AH5)
to Barhi, India
(on AH1) - AH43, 3,024 km
(1892 miles); Agra, India (on AH1) to Matara, Sri Lanka - AH44, 107 km
(67 miles); Dambulla, Sri Lanka (on
AH43) to Trinconmalee,
Sri Lanka - AH45, 2,030 km
(1269 miles); Kolkata, India (on AH1)
to Bangalore, India (on AH43/AH47) - AH46, 1,513 km
(946 miles); Kharagpur, India (on
AH45) to Dhule, India (on AH47) - AH47, 1286
miles (2,057 km); Gwalior, India (on
AH43) to Bangalore, India (on
AH43/AH45) - AH48, 1 km
(.625 miles); Phuentsholing, Bhutan to border between Bhutanand India - AH51, 862 km
(539 miles); Peshawar, Pakistan (on
AH1) to Quetta, Pakistan (on AH2/AH7)
60-89 and 600-899 are assigned to North Asia, Central Asia and South-West Asia:
- AH60, 2,151 km
(1344 miles); Omsk, Russia (on AH6) to Burubaital,
Kazakhstan (on AH7) - AH61, 4,158 km
(2599 miles); Kashi, China (on
AH4/AH65) to border between Russia and Ukraine - AH62, 2,722 km
(1701 miles); Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan (on AH6/AH64) to Mazari
Sharif, Afghanistan (on AH76) - AH63, 2,434 km
(1521 miles); Samara,
Russia (on AH6) to Guzar, Uzbekistan (on
AH62) - AH64, 1,666 km
(1041 miles); Barnaul, Russia (on AH4)
to Petropavlovsk, Russia
(on AH6/AH62) - AH65, 1,250 km
(781 miles); Kashi, China (on
AH4/AH61) to Termez, Uzbekistan (on
AH62) - AH66, 995 km
(622 miles); border between China and Tajikistan to Dushanbe, Tajikistan - AH67, 2,288 km
(1430 miles); Kuitun,
China (on AH5) to Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (on AH62) - AH68, 278 km
(174 miles); Jinghe,
China (on AH5) to Ucharal,
Kazakhstan (on AH60) - AH70, 4,832 km
(3020 miles); border between Ukraine
and Russia to Bandar Abbas, Iran - AH71, 426 km
(266 miles); Dilaram, Afghanistan (on AH1) to Dashtak, Iran (on AH75) - AH72, 1,147 km
(717 miles); Tehran, Iran (on
AH1/AH2/AH8) to Bushehr, Iran - AH75, 1,871 km
(1169 miles); Tejen, Turkmenistan (on AH5)
to Chabahar, Iran - AH76, 986 km
(616 miles); Polekhumri,
Afghanistan (on AH7) to Herat, Afghanistan
(on AH1/AH77) - AH77, 1,298 km
(811 miles); Djbulsarcj,
Afghanistan (on AH7) to Mary, Turkmenistan (on AH5) - AH78, 1,076 km
(672.5 miles); Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan (on AH5) to Kerman, Iran
(on AH2) - AH81, 1,143 km
(714 miles); Larsi, Georgia
to Aktau, Kazakhstan (on AH70) - AH82, 1,261 km
(788 miles); border between Russia and Georgia to Iveoqlu,
Iran (on AH1) - AH83, 172 km
(107.5 miles); Kazakh,
Azerbaijan (on AH5) to Yerevan,
Armenia (on AH81/AH82) - AH84, 1,188 km
(742.5 miles); Doğubeyazıt, Turkey (on AH1) to İçel, Turkey - AH85, 338 km
(211 miles); Refahiye, Turkey (on
AH1) to Merzifon, Turkey (on AH5) - AH86, 247 km
(154 miles); Askale,
Turkey (on AH1) to Trabzon, Turkey (on
AH5) - AH87, 606 km
(378.75 miles); Ankara, Turkey (on AH1)
to İzmir, Turkey
Source:
-
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC. INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT ON THE ASIAN HIGHWAY NETWORK
- Asian Highway Network From Wikipedia
- The Great Asian Highway By Rahul Kamat
Tags: Asia, Asian Highway Network, Business, Business and Economy, Hong Kong, Recreation, Roads and Highways, Vietnam
Leave a Reply