This might be something that many, if not all of our X2 members from the Asia-Pacific region are aware of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific and that one of the body’s emphasis is the development of transportation infrastructure within the region, which is not limited to only roadways but also includes railways and maritime transportation.

The mandate of the transportation section of this UN commission is to take every aspect of the Asia-Pacific culturally, economically, historically, and many other ways and combine these factors into a frame work for the region and guided by the pursuit of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

UNESCAP has made a few large-scale projects the focal point of its transportation related efforts within the region. Essentially all of the projects supported by the commission are oriented towards moving both people and also moving cargo throughout the region. Some of the primary projects of the Commission are:

Asia Highway
Trans-Asian Railway
Dry Ports and Intermodal Transport Linkages
Transport Facilitation Connecting Subregional Logistics Networks
Transport Logistics
Financing and Private Sector Participation
Sustainable and Inclusive Transport
Inter-Island Shipping

For those X2 Logistics Networks members who will be attending the 2015 X2 Conference and are arriving a few days prior might like to know that on 21 and 22 January, Bangkok, Thailand will be the host of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Public-Private Partnerships for Transport Infrastructure Development.

The focus of the meeting will be to look at and determine the actions to take in a region that is seeing substantial growth and an increased demand for transport infrastructure while services and infrastructure maintenance are constrained by limited budgets and the capacity to borrow. Much of the meeting dialogue will be directed towards the sharing of experiences and also discussing how to efficiently involve the private sector in the funding and financing of infrastructure projects as well as in infrastructure maintenance.

For more information about the Asia-Pacific Forum on Public-Private Partnerships for Transport Infrastructure Development, please visit UNESCAP.