Strengthening capacity for operationalizing sustainable transport connectivity along the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor to achieve the 2030 Agenda Draft Report United Nations ESCAP 2021 CONTENTS Strengthening capacity for operationalizing sustainable transport connectivity along the China- Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor to achieve the 2030 Agenda .............................. 1 Draft Final Report ............................................................................................................................. 1 Contents ...................................................................................................................................... 2 List of tables ............................................................................................................................... 4 List of figures.............................................................................................................................. 4 List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 8 Chapter I China – Central Asia – West Asia Economic Corridor .............................. 10 I.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 10 I.2 CCWA Economic Corridor: existing operational challenges and non-physical barriers ...... 17 I.2.1 Railway operational challenges and non-physical barriers ............................................. 17 I.2.2 Road operational challenges and non-physical barriers .................................................. 18 I.2.3 Border crossings .............................................................................................................. 22 I.3 CCWA Economic Corridor: transport assets of countries ..................................................... 24 I.3.1 Railways .......................................................................................................................... 24 I.3.2 Roads ............................................................................................................................... 32 I.3.3 Key nodes ........................................................................................................................ 36 I.4 Impact of COVID-19 pandemic ................................................................................................ 40 I.4.1 COVID-19 pandemic situation......................................................................................... 40 I.4.2 COVID-19 pandemic related measures for freight transport at the borders along the CCWA Economic corridor .............................................................................................. 43 I.4.3 COVID-19 impact on transport volumes and foreign trade in the countries along the CCWA Economic corridor .............................................................................................. 49 Chapter II Improving connectivity in the CCWA and beyond .................................... 52 II.1 Green infrastructure development ............................................................................................ 52 II.2 Sustainable infrastructure finance ............................................................................................ 56 II.3 An indicator set to measure sustainable infrastructure connectivity in the CCWA and beyond ............................................................................................................................................... 57 II.4 Policy recommendations for sustainable connectivity along the CCWA Economic Corridor 63 Chapter III Connectivity on Smart Transpor t Systems ........................................ 69 III.1 Smart Transport Systems with the CCWA Economic Corridor ............................................. 69 III.2 Exploration of Representative Smart Transport Applications ................................................ 70 III.3 Smart Transport Systems in Target Countries along the CCWA Economic Corridor ........... 75 III.4 Analytical Findings on Smart Transport Systems along the CCWA Economic Corridor ... 105 III.4.1 Current status of smart transport systems across target countries ............................... 105 III.4.2 Future plans of smart transport systems for the next 10 years across target countries 108 III.4.3 Main benefits and challenges from smart transport systems in target countries ......... 111 III.4.4 Examination of smart transport systems in priority corridors ..................................... 112 III.4.5 Analysis of smart transport systems for cross-border movements .............................. 113 2 III.4.6 Major lessons learned for formulating policy recommendations ................................ 119 III.5 Chapter Conclusions and Policy Recommendations ............................................................ 122 III.5.1 Chapter conclusions ..................................................................................................... 122 III.5.2 Policy recommendations.............................................................................................. 122 Annexes 126 Annex I Statistical data ............................................................................................................. 126 Annex II Connectivity updates on the CCWA countries ............................................................. 132 Annex III Transport related agreements across CCWA Economic Corridor ............................... 150 References .................................................................................................................................... 153 3 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Economic data of the CCWA economies ........................................................................................... 10 Table 2 Corridors relevant for CCWA countries .............................................................................................. 14 Table 3 Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2018 for CCWA countries ........................................................... 16 Table 4 Limits on dimensions, weight and axle load of a freight road vehicle in the countries along CCWA . 20 Table 5 Speed without delay (km/h) at the CAREC corridors within CCWA Economic Corridor countries .... 32 Table 6 CCWA Economic Corridor seaports ................................................................................................... 36 Table 7 Selected Recent Infections Outbreaks in Asia ................................................................................... 40 Table 8 Officially reported cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in countries along the CCWA economic corridor as of 02 May 2021 .............................................................................................................................. 41 Table 9 Overview of policy responses in management of international freight transport in countries along the CCWA Economic Corridor as of July 2020,..................................................................................................... 44 Table 10 Impact of infrastructure on biodiversity loss ..................................................................................... 55 Table 11 Selected infrastructure connectivity frameworks .............................................................................. 57 Table 12 Sustainable Infrastructure Connectivity Indicator (SICI) .................................................................. 60 Table 13 Summary of the types of smart transport systems ........................................................................... 72 Table 14 Stages of smart transport systems development in China ............................................................... 76 Table 15 Status of smart transport systems in use and in plans ................................................................... 120 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 China – Central Asia – West Asia (CCWA) Economic Corridor and ESCAP region’s transport networks........................................................................................................................................................... 12 Figure 2 Accumulated Chinese transport investments in CCWA countries 2013-2019 in million USD .......... 15 Figure 3 CCWA LPI performance 2014-2018 ................................................................................................. 16 Figure 4 Points of border crossing along CCWA Economic Corridor .............................................................. 21 Figure 5 Railway gauges in countries along the CCWA Economic Corridor ................................................... 24 Figure 6 Electrification and tracks along the conventional railways in CCWA countries ................................ 26 Figure 7 Asian Highways and main roads in countries along CCWA Economic Corridor .............................. 30 Figure 8 Road quality along Asian Highways in countries along CCWA Economic Corridor ......................... 31 Figure 9 Dry ports of international importance and seaports relevant to the CCWA Economic Corridor ....... 35 Figure 10 Impacts of transport investments in the BRI on CO2-emissions ..................................................... 53 Figure 11 Risk of loss of biodiversity along