Informal document SC.2 No. 2 (2016) Distr.: General 15 November 2016 English only Working Party on Rail Transport Seventieth session Geneva, 22–24 November 2016 Item 5 of the provisional agenda Euro-Asian rail transport Identification of cargo flows on the Euro-Asian transport links Preliminary informal version of the paper just for information Transmitted by the "Scientific and Research Institute of Motor Transport" (NIAT) United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Draft EURO-ASIAN TRANSPORT LINKAGES Phase III Expert Group Report Geneva 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EURO-ASIAN TRADE ROUTES AND FREIGHT FLOWS I.1. Economics and trade current situation in EATL Region I.1.1. General overview: world trade and economics I.1.2. European region I.1.3. Asia and Pacific region I.1.4. CIS member-states I.2. Euro-Asian trade routes I.2.1. Trade routes general development I.2.2. Main trade partners I.2.3. Main commodity groups I.2.4. Container freight I.3. Euro-Asian transport flows I.3.1. Maritime routes situation I.3.2. EATL main routes general overview I.3.3. EATL Railway routes and railway transport I.3.3. EATL Road routes and road transport I.3.5. EATL Inland waterways and ports I.3.6. Air routes and main airports I.4. EATL related sea ports and their hinterland connections I.4.1. Sea ports role in EATL corridors I.4.2. Port statistics and trends I.4.3. Most important sea ports identification I.4.4. Logistic centers and dry ports in the EATL system 1.5. Comparative analysis of the duration and expenses of different modes of transport between Europe and Asia on selected Euro-Asian routes 2 II. CURRENT INITIATIVES, PROJECTS AND STUDIES IN EATL REGION II.1. Overview of international studies, programmes and initiatives on Euro-Asian transport links development II.1.1. UN GA II.1.2. UN ECE II.1.3. UN ESCAP II.1.4. UN OHRLLS II.1.5. UNCTAD II.1.6. UN SPECA II.1.7. European Union II.1.8. Eurasian Economic Union II.1.9. Silk Road Economic BELT Initiative II.1.10. OSCE II.1.11. OSJD II.1.12. BSEC II.1.13. TRACECA II.1.14. ECO II.1.15. GUAM II.1.16. World Bank II.1.17. ADB and CAREC Program II.1.18. IDB II.1.19. EBRB II.1.20. EDB II.1.21. IRU II.1.22. UIC II.1.23. Global Partnership for Sustainable Transport (GPST) II.2. Most important national level programmes and projects II.3. Container block-trains in the EATL trade 3 II.3.1. Block trains role in the Euro-Asian logistics II.3.2. Block trains: case descriptions II.3.3. Pre-conditions for effective block-trains operation III. MAIN OBSTACLES HAMPERING THE EURO-ASIAN TRANSPORT LINKAGES DEVELOPMENT III.1. General overview III.2. Border Crossing Points as bottlenecks III.3. Barriers concerning goods transported III.4. Barriers concerning border crossing technologies and procedures III.5. Road transportation specific barriers III.6. Rail transportation specific barriers III.7. Intermodal transportation specific barriers III.8. Political situation III.9. Mismatch of public and private interests IV. EATL: LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS REFERENCES 4 INTRODUCTION History and background The Euro-Asian Transport Links (EATL) project is a part of long-term collaborative work carried out during recent decades by international institutions and particular countries of the Eurasia to improve the conditions for trade and socio-economic development on the continent. At the moment EATL is supported by 38 countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mongolia, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Spain, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. EATL started in 2002 as a joint undertaking between the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Phase I of the project (2002-07) had selected the main Euro-Asian road, rail and inland water transport routes, transshipment points and ports. Projects were prioritized in order to improve the selected routes. The first analysis of physical and non-physical obstacles hampering the trade via the surface Euro-Asian routes was undertaken. An Expert Group established under the Phase I proved to be the effective cooperation platform for the coordinated development of coherent Euro-Asian inland transport links. Phase II of the EATL project (2008 to 2013) was coordinated by UNECE. Within this phase the Expert Group identified nine rail and nine road corridors (EATL corridors) which should be considered as principle transport links between Europe and Asia. At the same time 311 projects linked with the EATL corridors were proposed by the participating countries. The projects have been evaluated from the standpoint of their relevance and importance for international traffic and their value to connect Asia and Europe. The assessment of transport investment needs along EATL routes at the multi-county level was undertaken which formed the basis of the updated EATL Investment Plan. Administrative impediments to transport and trade were also identified. Among the most valuable Phase II results the following should be noted: - analysis of the Euro–Asian railway links in comparison to maritime transport that could be used as anchors for further railway reforms to improve railway services for trade within the continent; - comparison of nine door-to-door transport scenarios: time-wise and 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; - the transport and border-crossing facilitation review and analysis that offers concrete examples and highlights certain specific issues to be addressed; - SWOT analysis of the EATL corridors. Finally, the Phase II report lists a number of recommendations in the areas of infrastructure development, facilitation and sectorial policies. The Study argues that well-functioning EATL corridors, efficient customs transit regimes, the implementation of international trade and 5 transport conventions, elimination of rent-seeking as well as the overall improvement of transport and logistics services can shorten the economic distances between EATL countries. Within Phase II UNECE also created and made freely available the Geographical Information System (GIS) interactive application that gives access to the database related to the EATL corridors. UNECE is ready to maintain this database in collaboration with the participating governments with the intention to help the governments and the international institutions to coordinate and accelerate their collaborative investment activities. The Second EATL Ministerial Meeting (26 February 2013) endorsed the Phase II final report and supported to the next phase of the project in its Joint Declaration. Main goals of the project The Euro-Asian Transport Links project is aimed at three main interconnected goals, or three project domains: 1) Developing the Euro-Asian transit. This aspect of work is focused on providing conditions for increasing volumes of Euro-Asian trade via overland routes, primarily railway. The basic idea is to benefit from potentially shorter travel time - in comparison with the maritime routes - that would attract the time-sensitive segment of Euro-Asian trade. Since this idea was formulated during the St. Petersburg International Euro-Asian Conference on Transport in 1998, much had changed in Eurasian trade and transport. The trade volumes had significantly increased as well as the capacity of container ships operating on Eurasian routes. That, in turn, led to lower freight rates and the prospects of overland delivery seemed to be very bad. At the same time, the idea of intercontinental container trains that once looked as a very distant prospect had become the everyday reality for many shippers who now see these services as an attractive alternative to sea transport. The reasons for that are not only the growth of high-value commodities share and the “slow steaming” concept adopted by shipping lines. It should be stated that the efforts of the EATL countries - and other states interested in Eurasian links development - had really improved the conditions for overland trade. Experts agree that the potential of Eurasian transit is not fully utilized and that the work on its development should be continued. 2) Addressing the challenge of the landlockness. Thirteen of the EATL area states - Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – belong to the “family” of the landlocked countries that face special challenges associated with lack of direct territorial access to the sea, remoteness and isolation from world markets. For these countries, fragmentation of the supply chain in a poorly regulated transit process can add up to50 per cent to transport costs between a landlocked country and a nearest foreign port. According to the World Bank, landlocked countries’trade and incomes lag far behind those of transit countries and the global average. The international community constantly pays special attention to needs of landlocked countries. The Almaty Programme of Action: Addressing the Special Needs of Landlocked Developing Countries within a New Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries, adopted in 2003, reflected the strong commitment of all actors to address the special development needs and challenges faced by landlocked developing countries and to promote their effective integration into the global economy through the 6 implementation, inter alia, of specific actions in the areas of fundamental transit policy issues, infrastructure development and maintenance, trade facilitation.