Developing an Asian rail network to expand trade and economic development within the region will come a step closer when a new intergovernmental agreement comes into force, the Bangkok Post reported.
The Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network, which commits signatories to co-ordinate the development and operation of international rail routes linking 28 countries is scheduled to be ratified this week .
China recently became the eighth country to ratify the treaty. It joins Thailand, Cambodia, India, Mongolia, South Korea, Russia and Tajikistan.
The Trans-Asian Rail Network (TAR) comprises 114,000 kilometres of major rail routes, and will open up access to Asia's landlocked countries and other inland areas.
This will be key to developing the region's inland economies, said Barry Cable, director of transport and tourism at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific (UN Escap), which has facilitated the programme's development.
"For Asian countries it's very difficult to cross borders for a range of reasons related to infrastructure, facilitation and logistics issues," he said.
"It's sad to say that for some countries in the region, it's more difficult and more expensive for them to trade with their next-door neighbour than it is to trade with the US and Europe."
The agreement will tackle this issue by getting governments around the table to work out the practicalities of making the network efficient. While most of the track is already in place, details on issues such as getting trains across borders where the track is a different gauge, transferring freight efficiently, and waiving customs for shipments in transit need to be worked out.
TAR will also include the establishment of a network of dry ports or "stations of economic importance".
These will be major terminals complete with full customs facilities, shipping agents and other financial and logistics support services. Industry clusters could be built around dry ports to bolster the local economy, said Cable.
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