North Korea astounds transport sector with road development plan

North Korea claims that it is establishing a strategic plan that will lift the country's struggling economy into prosperity as early as 2012. According to a missive from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a 10 year economic plan has been unveiled that will see a total of US$100 billion being invested by the nation in 12 strategic sectors.
February 10, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSSNorth Korea claims that it is establishing a strategic plan that will lift the country's struggling economy into prosperity as early as 2012. According to a missive from the 5710 Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a 10 year economic plan has been unveiled that will see a total of US$100 billion being invested by the nation in 12 strategic sectors. It will also introduce the State General Bureau for Economic Development to deploy and oversee the plan. A key facet of the plan is for the construction of some 3,000km of roads. Exactly what will be driven on these new roads is as yet unclear. The country's ruling military elite are amongst the small minority of people who are in a position to own personal vehicles. Other than that, North Korea's military is the country's largest user of vehicles. The country also suffers from massive fuel shortages (of all types of fossil fuels) that result in whole areas of its national grid being closed down to conserve power, in addition to hindering vehicle transportation. It would seem logical that any new highways would therefore have to be designed around using bicycles as transportation, given that these do not rely on fuel for motive power.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Developments in hybrid vehicles
    February 27, 2012
    There is an array of future vehicle solutions in development - Mike Woof reports. Ever since Henry Ford's Model T showed that the motor car could provide transport for ordinary people rather than being an exclusive toy of the rich, vehicle numbers have exploded. In every country around the world, vehicle ownership continues to grow.
    Read More
  • The radically changing face of UK highways management
    May 14, 2014
    The British Government policy paper ‘Action for Roads: A network for the 21st century’ sets out radical change to the strategic way roads are funded and managed – including plans to turn the Highways Agency into a Government-owned company and a pledge to invest over €33.4 billion (£28 billion) in roads maintenance between 2015 and 2020. Jenny Moten, Highways Agency divisional director for Network Services, gave a keynote presentation on the new approach to strategic highways management during the Road Safet
    Read More
  • Safety gains on Europe’s roads with lower KSI rates
    February 19, 2014
    Better road safety is helping to cut KSI rates right across the EC - Mike Woof writes Road safety continues to improve in Europe, with official statistics for 2012 showing a drop in fatalities of 2,661 compared with the figures for 2011. The latest data from Pan-European police body TISPOL shows an encouraging trend towards better road safety. This highlights safety improvements right across the EU. In 2012, a total of 27,700 people were killed in road crashes in the European Union’s 27 member states, eq
    Read More
  • America: on the brink of better road asset management
    February 23, 2015
    It’s make or break time for highways maintenance in the United States, according to Greg Cohen, head of the American Highways Users’ Alliance, speaking at the Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit in Paris today. What happens in the next year will make the difference between a decade of continuing crumbling road infrastructure or a renaissance in America’s highways, he told delegates attending the first day’s afternoon plenary session. All state governments must submit a road asset management plan to t
    Read More

Highlighted Content