Silk Road: 'viable alternative'

The final results of the International Road Transport Union's (IRU) New Eurasian Land Transport Initiative (NELTI)-Phase 2 have confirmed road trade links between Europe and Asia as an economically-attractive and viable alternative to traditional, saturated maritime trading routes. This was unveiled at the recent 6th IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference and Ministerial Meeting held in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, which concluded that removing the remaining procedural impediments at borders and deve
May 2, 2012 Read time: 3 mins

The final results of the 1203 International Road Transport Union's (IRU) New Eurasian Land Transport Initiative (NELTI)-Phase 2 have confirmed road trade links between Europe and Asia as an economically-attractive and viable alternative to traditional, saturated maritime trading routes.

This was unveiled at the recent 6th IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference and Ministerial Meeting held in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, which concluded that removing the remaining procedural impediments at borders and developing the necessary auxiliary infrastructure is essential to realise the significant growth potential of such international road trade flows.

Launched in June, 2009, in close cooperation with the 943 Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation programme (CAREC), the IRU's NELTI-Phase 2 monitored regular commercial deliveries over two years, performed by road transport companies from 13 European and Asian countries, including China, and covering 18 states spanning the Eurasian landmass along five routes (Northern, Central, Southern, Afghan and Chinese).

The average cargo movement speed along NELTI-2 routes was 18.4km/hour, which is equivalent to approximately 450km/day.

"The numerous stops on the way, for both justified (fuel refills, meals, rest and road traffic regulations) and unwarranted reasons (border waiting times, extensive vehicle and cargo controls and customs clearance), explain this relatively low speed," says the organisation.

However, the analysis of drivers' logbook data highlighted that downtime at borders results in a daily loss of 280km not being driven, which means that almost 40% of road transport time along the Silk Road is lost at borders due to inappropriate border crossing procedures which impede trade growth along the entire Eurasian landmass.

Meanwhile, the Economic Cooperation Organisation Regular Monitoring of Trucks (ECO-RMT) in partnership with IRU's NELTI-3 has been launched in Ashgabat, the Turkmenistan capital, at the 8th Meeting of the Ministers of Transport and Communications of the ECO member states.

ECO secretary general, Mohammed Yahya Maroofi, explained: "Reliable, factual information about the conditions of international road transport in the ECO region is crucial to identify real impediments and appropriate solutions to be implemented in order to effectively remove or reduce physical and non-physical barriers to international road transport." This is the aim of the ECO-RMT, which will collect invaluable data on border waiting times, customs procedures, controls and roadside checks as well as existing transport infrastructure along major transport routes in our region." This joint ECO RMT/NELTI-3 project, a continuation of the ECO-IRU Silk Road Truck Caravan 2010 and IRU's NELTI 1 and 2, will allow the collection and analysis of data on the current conditions of international road transport faced by professional truck drivers during international commercial cargo deliveries in the ECO region through special questionnaires and logbooks to be filled by drivers of 26 participating companies from seven ECO member states, (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan) applying the 3299 UNESCAP Time-Distance-Cost methodology [a simple way of illustrating the time and costs involved in the transportation process].

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Challenges and investment opportunities in East Africa transport infrastructure Sector
    November 21, 2014
    East Africa offers considerable potential for transport infrastructure expansion and investment - Shem Oirere reports Infrastructure, infrastructure and more infrastructure is what is needed to make East Africa the favoured destination and Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda have unveiled grand plans to enhance the infrastructure both nationally and regionally.” This is how market analyst Deloitte introduced its 2014/15 budget analysis for the four countries in July.
    Read More
  • IRF hosts high-level debate on the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) at ITF Summit 2019
    August 12, 2019
    HE Mehmet Cahit Turhan, minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, opened with a keynote address at the session on "The Belt & Road: Bridging the gaps for sustainable transport and growth in EurAsia". This was organised by the International Road Federation (IRF) on 22nd May 2019 at the ITF Summit 2019 in Leipzig. The panel included top representatives from the World Bank, BSEC, AIIB, IATA, Michelin and PwC and offered a deep insight into key topics surrounding the BRI. Organised jointly with th
    Read More
  • India plans major infrastucture investment
    February 10, 2012
    India says it turned its Commonwealth Games into a world-class success, and now it aims to do the same with its infrastructure. Patrick Smith reports. On October, 2010 India put itself on the world stage, and disaster appeared to loom as a catalogue of problems dogged its biggest ever sporting event. Costing nearly US$2 billion to stage, the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever were, according to some, in doubt.
    Read More
  • Financing safer, more sustainable European roads
    April 12, 2012
    The future financing of the European road network has again become a hot topic in Brussels On 15 October, 2010 in the Belgian capital, the Council of Transport Ministers hammered out a political compromise on the revision of the Eurovignette Directive that paves the way for the imposition of additional charges on road transport as a means of internalising externalities. Whether the imposition of these additional costs is justified or not remains the subject of protracted debate.
    Read More

Highlighted Content