Myanmar is conducting surveys on its part of roads included in the Asian Highway Network which it agreed with 25 other member countries of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), a local weekly reported Sunday.

Some 26 ESCAP countries out of 32 participating nations signed the intergovernmental agreement in Shanghai, China, in April last year to set up the highway network and the agreement has come into force since July 4.

The highway network comprises more than 2,000 kilometers in Myanmar and provide links to China, India and Thailand.

Upgradation of the roads will be conducted with the assistance of these three countries, government construction officials was quoted by the Myanmar Times as saying.

The Myanmar section of roads will be based on the existing ones and be upgraded to meet the set standard, the officials said.

Spanning 32 countries, the Asian highway constitutes a network of 140,000 km of roads crisscrossing the continent and linking up to Europe. The network, which will signify promotion of regional integration and cooperation, is expected to be completed by 2010.

As outlined by the ESCAP, the network passes through capital cities, major industrial centers and tourist attractions in Asia with China and Russia representing the longest stretches of the network of over 25,500 km and 16,800 km respectively.

The highway plan was initiated by ESCAP in 1959 and revised at a meeting of 32 countries held in Bangkok in 2003.

Source: Xinhua