Bangkok Post, Thailand, Travel Column.

Byline: Imtiaz Muqbil

Dec. 3--Facing a major cash crunch in getting regional transport infrastructure projects moving again, Asia-Pacific governments will have to clean out the bottlenecks and inefficiencies keeping out private investment in these projects, according to a report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for the Asia-Pacific.

Escap's just-concluded ministerial conference on infrastructure has acknowledged that the regional transport system is riddled with inefficiencies, the extra costs of which are eventually passed on to consumers, affecting the competitiveness of Asian products in regional and global markets.

While the network of railways, roads, highways, airports and ports being developed through the Asia Pacific is designed mainly to facilitate intra-regional trade and transport of goods, it also contributes to the development of travel and tourism by opening up access to new destinations and giving tour operators opportunities to create more competitive packages and itineraries.

So far, the most important means of transport in the Asia-Pacific region is by air but this could change once projects like the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway are completed.

According an to an Escap report, the region has 42 rail networks operating 350,000 route kilometres and a road network of over nine million kilometres. Just the planned new railway projects in the region alone will require about US$73 billion from 2001 to 2006.

"Exploring the potential synergies between the various land transport modes, more specifically between the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway networks, and linking to maritime, inland water and air transport could be an important step toward the emergence of a comprehensive intermodal transport system that could meet the ever-growing demand for fast, reliable and safe connections reaching all parts of the continent."