AP. Strengthening connectivity of countries in South and
Central Asia, particularly Land-Locked and Least Developed
Countries, to link with, sub-regional and regional transport and
trade networks
ESCAP jointly with ECE ($632,000)
Background
1. The geographically contiguous regions of South Asia and Central Asia
comprise a number of landlocked and least developed countries, natural resource
rich countries and some of the fastest growing economies with highly
complementary economic structures. Yet intraregional trade within and between
these regions is impeded by higher costs than those applicable to their trade with
the European Union, largely due to poorly developed transport links not allowing
them to benefit from geographical proximity.
2. Connectivity within and between Central Asian and South Asian subregions remains inadequate because of poor infrastructure conditions, missing
links, and a lack of transit agreements and transport facilitation. A number of
overlapping groupings for regional cooperation have been established in the two
sub-regions namely South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC),
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
(BIMSTEC), and Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), in addition to the
Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) and Central Asia
Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) programmes. Each of these groupings
has proposed their own sub-regional transport corridors for the promotion of
connectivity across their Member States. ESCAP’s recent analysis has shown that
the countries in the region could reap greater network externalities by integrating
the sub-regional transport corridors.
3. Against that backdrop, this project seeks to contribute to the capacities
of the countries of the two sub regions in order to strengthen their connectivity
through an innovative approach that encompasses: (i) linking the existing and
proposed sub-regional road and railway networks along the Asian Highway and
Trans Asian Railway routes and Europe-Asia Transport Linkages (EATL) corridors
based on minimal investments; and (ii) facilitating the movement of goods along
these corridors in a mutually beneficial manner especially for the benefit of the
landlocked and least developed countries in these sub-regions. Furthermore, in
order to maximize the economic benefits of improved connectivity, the project will
also explore the possibilities for facilitating trade and investment through the
creation of economic corridors at the border crossings that could be of particular
interest to countries emerging from conflict, like Afghanistan, which are seeking to
rebuild their economies through improved connectivity with the region’s emerging
markets that could provide important economic gains and help in restoring peace
and stability.
4. The project will contribute to the implementation of the Istanbul
Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Almaty
Programme of Action which are heavily emphasised in the Rio+20 Outcome (paras.
14, 181, 182). Furthermore, it responds to numerous calls made by the Member
States of ESCAP and ECE in the subregions of South and South-West Asia and
Central Asia for a greater focus on capacity-building activities for Member States to
improve connectivity between Land- Locked and Least Developed Countries
(LLDCs) and their subregional and regional partners.
5. The project will build upon and leverage the tangible outcomes from
ESCAP’s and ECE’s existing work in transport and trade facilitation. ESCAP has
developed the Asian Highway (AH) and Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) route maps
and has facilitated international agreements based on them. It is currently working
on an international agreement on dry ports for facilitating intermodal transport.
ECE has been managing the EATL project, has facilitated inland transport
conventions and agreements including those on Euro-Asian transport, and has
undertaken studies on the relevance and relative costs of different transport
corridors and hinterland connections to maritime ports, etc. The project will also
build upon important transport and trade facilitation tools developed jointly by ECE
and ESCAP, including the guides and training materials for business process
analysis, simplification and automation of trade and transport documents
Objective of the Organization: To strengthen the capacities of
Member States in South and South-West Asia and Central Asia,
particularly LDCs and landlocked countries, to plan and
implement measures to enhance intra and interregional
connectivity and to harness its economic potential for inclusive
and sustainable development
Relationship to the strategic framework for the period 20142015 and the Millennium Development Goals: DESA
subprogramme 7 (Development policy and analysis); Millennium
Development Goals 1 to 8.
Summary budget
(Thousands of United States dollars)
General temporary
assistance
Consultants
Expert Group Meeting
Travel
Contractual services
Operating expenses
Workshops/training
Total
Expected accomplishments of the Secretariat Indicators of achievement
(EA1) Enhanced awareness of the government
officials, regional groupings and financial
institutions about the possible connectivity
options and their economic and social benefits
including existing interregional trade
opportunities
(EA2) Increased skills of government officials,
regional groupings and financial institutions to
develop and implement measures to enhance
connectivity in the region through application of
standards and best practices for trade and
transport facilitation at the border crossings and
along the main economic corridors identified
30.0
133.0
66.0
96.0
22.0
21.0
264.0
632.0
(IA1.1)
Increased number of initiatives by
the Member States and other stakeholders in the
sub-regions to enhance connectivity by
addressing the bottlenecks including through
intergovernmental discussions
(IA2.1)
At least 75 per cent of stakeholders
participating in the project indicate that they are
able to more effectively plan and implement
initiatives/measures enhancing connectivity for
trade and transport, as a result of their
participation, in the project activities
(IA2.2)
Increased number of agreements
between and among the Member States and
accession to international conventions related to
transport and trade facilitation by countries in
the two sub-regions
(IA2.3)
Increased number of transport
infrastructure projects funded by regional banks,
multilateral institutions and national
governments in the sub-regions
Main activities
6. The main activities of the project will include:
(A1.1) Identify key potential road and rail corridors along AH and TAR
networks and EATL corridors in the South and Central Asian sub-regions including
those proposed by SAARC, ECO and BIMSTEC with a special focus on enhancing
the connectivity for the LDCs and LLDCs of the sub-region; estimation of costs of
trade due to network (physical and non-physical) bottlenecks; evaluation of
potential benefits especially for LDCs and LLDCs using qualitative and
quantitative economic models in such areas as employment generation through
increased economic activity, trade creation through enhanced competitiveness,
enhanced income by providing international transport and logistics services;
(A1.2) Organize two expert group meetings (one each for road and railway
corridors) to select road and rail corridor(s) that would maximize the economic
benefits for the Member States especially for LLDCs and LDCs;
(A1.3) Organize a policy dialogue involving key stakeholders and multilateral
and regional financial institutions such as the World Bank, the Asian Development
Bank and the Islamic Development Bank, as well as regional groupings, namely the
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the Economic Cooperation
Organization, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation, and the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia, to
enhance their awareness about the possible connectivity options and their economic
and social benefits including existing interregional trade opportunities, for policy
advocacy and build public opinion based on work done in A1.1 and A1.2;
(A2.1) Identify challenges for development of the selected rail and road
corridors in terms of: (i) infrastructure deficiencies; and (ii) trade and transport
facilitation and particularly border crossing facilitation including through
collaboration of stakeholders and automation of information exchanges and develop
proposals for implementation; prepare training material and guides for capacity
building of government officials using output from the studies and existing stock of
training materials prepared by ECE and ESCAP;
(A2.2) Examine the available legal instruments (multilateral, regional and
bilateral agreements) and international arrangements for entry of vehicle, cargo and
driver into a country’s territory for bilateral and/or for transit purposes; and
business processes - existing and required –in countries of South Asia and Central
Asia to operationalize the identified road and rail corridor(s) under activity A1.2;
(A2.3) Organize two sub-regional capacity-building workshops activities
using training material and guides prepared under activity A2.1 and A2.2 in
collaboration with sub-regional development partners like the Asian Development
Bank and the Islamic Development Bank, as well as drawing upon existing training
materials and guides prepared by ECE and ESCAP.
Detailed budget (US dollars)
General Temporary Assistance
 National officer to support activities A1.1, A1.2, A2.1 and A2.2 (10 work
months x $3,000 per work month = $30,000
Consultants
International Consultants
 Two international consultants for the task(s) of developi ng study in
support of activity A1.1 (4 work months x $6,000 per month x 2) = $
48,000
 One international consultant for independent project evaluation in
support of activity A3.1= $13,000
Regional consultants
 Three regional consultants (one each for transport infrastructure,
transport facilitation and trade facilitation) for task(s) of identificat ion of
challenges in support of activity A2.1 (6 work months x $3,000 per
month x 3) = $54,000
 One regional consultant for tasks under activity A2.2 (6 work months x
$3,000) = $18,000
Expert Groups
 Expert Group Meetings (one for road and one for rail) fo r the purpose of
finalization of rail and road corridor in support of activity A1.2 ($2,200
per participant x 15 participants x 2) = $66,000
30 000
133 000
66 000
Travel of staff
UN staff members from ESCAP
 Missions by ESCAP staff in support of activity under A1.1 (2 trips x
$3,000 x 3 person) = $18,000
 For organizing policy dialogue under activity A1.3 ($3,000 x 2 persons)
= $6,000
 For organizing two expert group meetings in support of activity A1.2
($3,000 x 2 EGMs x 3 persons) = $18,000
 For organizing capacity building workshops in support of activity A2.3 (2
trips x $3,000 x 3 persons) = $18,000
Staff members from other United Nations entities
 Missions by other UN staff members (ECE) for organizing policy
dialogue in support of activity A1.3 ($3,000 x 2 persons) = $6,000
 For organizing two expert group meetings in support of activity A1.2
($3,000 x 2 EGMs x 2 persons) = $12,000
 For organizing capacity building workshops in support of activity A2.3
(2 workshops x $3,000 x 3 persons) = $18,000
96 000
Contractual services
 Hiring of translation, interpretation and printing services = $22,000
22 000
Operating expenses
 Communications in support of all activities = $11,000
 Other general operating expenses in support of all activities = $10,000
21 000
Seminars and Workshops
 Two capacity building workshops, one each in two sub -regions in support
of activity A2.3 ($2,200 x 2 x 35 participants) = $154,000
 One policy dialogue/seminar in support of A1.3 ($2,200 per participant x
264 000
50 participants) = $110,000
Total`
632 000