Research theme

Study on Transport Investment Needs and Strategies in Asian Countries
Senior Research fellow	Dr. Surya Raj ACHARYA
back ground	Rapid economic growth in developing Asia is creating huge transport demand, but the level of transport infrastructure is not adequate, which results in severe congestions along with environmental impacts. However, the data on transport infrastructure and services in developing Asian countries is so poor and non-standardized that any objective judgment on the level of the infrastructure/service through international comparison is very difficult. The climate change issue, on the other hand, demands significant shift in the policy priority for different transport modes. Such special contexts of Asian countries may require special policy measures, while most existing researches on these issues do not have adequate focus especially on the case of developing Asian countries.
purpose	To assess existing level of transport infrastructure, estimate transport investment needs and suggest policy strategies to fill up investment/financing gaps for selected Asian countries.
Object	I. Methodology (1) Research Flow (please see the chart) (2) Research team: An international team of experts and researchers will be formed mobilizing network of EASTS. In addition, networking collaboration with international organizations, such as UN-ESCAP and JICA will be established mianly for sharing idea and views, and facillitating country specific data and information (3) Symposiums and workshop: In theprocess of research, international sysmpoisum and workshops will be organized to report inerrim/final outputs of research and to seek feedbacks from key stakeholders. II. Scope and coverage: Land transport for both passenger and freight (road and rail); Geographical coverage, East and South Asia III. Expected Outputs 1.Internationally comparable data tables on transport infrastructure and investment 2.Composite indicators to objectively inform policy makers on the adequacy of transport infrastructure and services 3.Estimation on the future need of transport investment and corresponding resource gap (including consideration for low-carbon transport system) 4.Detail assessment of alternative investment and financing mechanism for transport sector considering specific context 　Recommendation for strategies and practical policy measure