A total of 23 countries signed a historic agreement in Shanghai Monday to connect their highways into a cross-Asia network.

China, Japan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and others signed the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network at the Ministerial Segment of the 60th Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The total length of the highway network is 140,000 kilometers, connecting capitals, major ports, commercial and industrial centers and tourist sites of the signatory nations.

This agreement is the ESCAP's first intergovernmental agreement since the organization was founded 57 years ago. It is regarded as a significant step for promoting regional integration and cooperation.

After completion of the network by the year 2010, vehicles from Tokyo can travel directly to Istanbul. Even island countries like Japan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, will be linked through ferries to mainland countries.

"It means that many landlocked countries like Mongolia and Kazakhstan can have access to the sea by joining the Asian Highway network, and more sub-regions can be connected together," said Barry Cable, chief of the Transport and Tourism Division of the ESCAP.

Indonesia, Iran and Vietnam were among the other countries which signed the agreement.

Chinese Minister of Communications Zhang Chunxian signed the agreement on behalf of his government. As a crucial part of the Asia Highway Network, China has a total of 26,000-km highways within the network, accounting for 19 percent of the network's total length.

Besides the existing 11,000 km of highway, China will build another 15,000 km of new road for the network, which will be completed by 2010.

Zhang told Xinhua that the Asian Highway Network might help China to expand further cooperation with the neighboring southeast and central Asian nations over border-crossing transport, and accelerate regional integration and economic cooperation.

"It will also create opportunities for China's western areas to do more trade with the neighboring countries," said Zhang.

The convenient transport conditions may also help boost China's international tourism, especially with the neighboring countries.

According to the ESCAP, signing the agreement on the Asian Highway Network does not mean a real "free" cross-border transport along the enrolled routes.

A series of follow-up work has to be done after the member countries signed the agreement, said Cable, adding that more efforts are still needed in bilateral or multilateral negotiations on border-crossing issues during trade and transport.

The plan of an Asian Highway Network was initiated in the year 1959 and, in 2003, representatives of 32 ESCAP member countries adopted the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network in Bangkok, Thailand.

Source: Xinhua