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The Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Thiru. T.R. Baalu today said that establishing a reliable and efficient multi-model transport connectivity among SAARC member-nations would promote regional cooperation and provide a big boost to economic development of South Asia. He was delivering the inaugural address at the First Meeting of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Technical Committee on Transport, here.
Speaking on the occasion, Thiru. Baalu said that SAARC nations have not been able to develop fast transport infrastructure in line with benchmarks set by the developed world. “We, in the SAARC region, need to do much more to bridge the gap faster. The greatest handicap for countries of the SAARC region is paucity of resources. The SAARC countries should redouble their efforts to put in place efficient transport infrastructure so as to grow fast and catch up with the developed economies. The Government of India has recently signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement on Asian Highways. The Inter-Governmental Agreement specifies the routes of Asian Highways and the standard to which these are to be developed. The agreed routes of the Asian Highways have links with all the Member-States of SAARC Countries. The Agreement also defines that improvement of roads of Asian Highways is to be undertaken by the member-countries within their available resources. We should see to it that this Asian initiative becomes a great success”, he said.
Addressing the delegates, the Secretary, Department of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Dhanendra Kumar said that connectivity is the key to socio-economic progress. It is the biggest multiplier of capital investment as studies have shown that every single rupee spent on transport infrastructure provides a return of seven rupees in terms of economic regeneration, he added.
The two-day Meeting would deliberate on various issues like networking of transport research institutes and training facilities in SAARC member countries, harmonization of standards in transport sector and better connectivity between SAARC member countries.
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