UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE

1. UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE 2014 Forum on Euro-Asia Transport Internet of Smart Cities Hong Kong 17 March 2014 EURO-ASIAN TRANSPORT LINKS PROJECT OVERVIEW Miroslav Jovanovic, UNECE Transport Facilitation and Economics Section 1

2. EATL STRUCTURE • EATL Objectives • Phase 1 - Achievements • Phase 2 - Achievements • Phase 3 - Plans and expectations

3. EATL OBJECIVES • The Euro-Asian Transport Links (EATL) project aims to make the overland transport between the two continents efficient, fast, safe and competitive • Designated National Focal Points (NFP) in the participating countries were to identify main EATL road and rail routes for priority development, regional cooperation and coordination • EATL Expert Group is the cooperation platform for the coordinated development of coherent Euro-Asian inland transport links

4. EATL Phase 1 – Final Report

5. EATL Phase 1 (2002-07) Main Achievements • Selection of main Euro-Asian road, rail and inland water transport routes, transshipment points and ports • Prioritisation of projects on agreed methodology • First analysis of physical and non-physical obstacles • Establishment of database and GIS maps • Organization of 6 Expert Group Meetings (EGM) and many capacity building national, regional and interregional workshops • Joint ECE-ESCAP study with results, conclusions and recommendations on the way to proceed

6. EATL

7. EATL Phase 2 (2008 - 12) Phase 2 - Main Achievements • ECE Group of Experts to monitor and coordinate EATL developments • EATL Phase 2 objectives and achievements • Wider geographical coverage of countries (from 18 to 27); • 7 Expert Group Meetings • Continue projects’ prioritisation and implementation • Put emphasis on facilitation aspects • Further developed and update GIS database • Promote harmonised legislation and procedures • Strengthen capacities of national officials • Improve operational performance, including border crossing, compare inland transport options with maritime • 27 countries active participation (NFP) and contribution • Partial funding from Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Turkey, OSCE, BSEC • UNECE secretariat: technical backstopping and support

8. EATL Phase 2 – Final Report

9. EATL Phase 2 - Report • Identified 9 road and 9 railEATL routes for priority development, investment and cooperation • EATL priority routes and EATL ports, transshipment points and terminals: Extended to include the 9 newly involved counties • Study transport statistics, flows and trends showed: Rapid growth of Europe-Asian trade, increasing inter-Asian trade trends • 311 priority transport projects - total cost $215 billion.

10. EATL Phase 2 - Report • Comparison study of Euro-Asian maritime routes with selected rail routes is a part of the EATL Phase 2 Report • Compared nine door-to-door transport scenarios: • Time-wise • Cost-wise • In five out of the nine scenarios, rail transport performs better than maritime for both the cost and time! • In all nine scenarios, rail transport performs better than the maritime in terms of time.

11. EATL Phase 2 - Report • The comparison study provided proofs that the overland rail transport is not a myth or some distant future, but a viable reality • Competitive Euro-Asian rail transport, and • its combination with that of maritime and road transport is feasible • Firms increasingly use the rail option in Euro-Asian trade

12. UNECE ACTIVITIES

13. UNECE ACTIVITIES

14. UNECE ACTIVITIES

15. UNECE ACTIVITIES

16. EATL Phase 2 - Report • SWOT Analysis: Useful information on strong and weak points of EATL inland transport links, potential for further development and potential threats • EATL GIS application is freely available at http://apps.unece.org/eatl/  • Non-physical obstacles to transport along the EATL routes: Long waiting times at BCP some times a whole day; few work 24H/7Days, long delays for veterinary, phyto-sanitary, passport, transit, visa and other controls

17. EATL Phase 2 - Report • Report (600 pages) is freely available in English and Russian • http://www.unece.org/trans/main/eatl.html?expandable=99

18. Second EATL Ministerial Meeting 26 February 2013

19. EATL Second EATL Ministerial Meeting • 26 February 2013 in Geneva • Attended by 40 Ministers, Ambassadors and other high ranking officials • 11 new countries joined • EATL includes 38 countries • Joint Ministerial Statement • Approved Phase 2 Report • Gave political endorsement for Phase 3 (2013-15) with a possibility for an extension for (2015-17)

20. EATL Phase 3 (2013-15) EATL Phase 3 • The principal objective for EATL in Phase 3 is to make the identified overland EATL rail and road routes operational • International Financial Institutions and the relevant national infrastructure development bodies ought to direct their activities to coordinate infrastructure investment plans, as well as to attract private investment • Promote coordination and facilitation of financing of infrastructural projects • Facilitation of transport by removing physical and administrative bottlenecks when crossing borders • Further improve GIS internet free-access application and develop a web tool to compare inland transport options and maritime • Funding – sponsors and hosts are welcome

21. EATL EXPERT GROUP MEETINGS • 10 September 2013 in Geneva • Countries presented their priority infrastructure investment plans to IFIs • 4-5 February 2014 in Geneva • Identification of cargo • 27-28 May 2014 in Geneva • Identification of obstacles

22. EATL Conclusions • EATL overland routes offer a viable alternative to maritime routes for trade • There is an increasing business interest in using overland routes between Europe and Asia • EATL infrastructure needs further development • EATL project provides a continuous platform for the coordination of long-term national and regional investment plans

23. UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE Thank you! http://live.unece.org/trans/welcome.html 23