Laos hoping to have additional highways listed by Asean
Laos hoping to have additional highways listed by Asean
The government plans to have two additional national roads declared Asean Highways (AH) in Laos after the government listed a total of eight national roads similarly in recent times.
The two additional roads which would bring the total to ten are National Road No 17 in Luang Namtha province and National Road No 16 that runs through Champassak and Xekong provinces.
The naming of an additional two Asean highways aims to add facilities for regional production networks, trade and investment, transport, and tourism.
Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport's Roads Department, Mr Ngampasong Muongmany said recently that Road No 17 which runs for a distance of about 145km can be an Asean Highway as it connects to the Laos-Myanmar Friendship Bridge across the Mekong that will open for the services in May.
He said in the future the road will link Laos with Myanmar, India and Bangladesh to the west and provide access from those countries to Laos and Vietnam in the east.
The future upgrade of the road is expected to boost trade, investment and tourism between Laos and Myanmar, benefiting both nations as well as Vietnam and China. India and Bangladesh are also set to benefit.
Another road with potential to become an Asean Highway is National Road No 16, which runs for a distance of some 120km between Champassak and Xekong and links with Vietnam.
Mr Ngampasong said that currently the road, including the bridge across the Xekong River, is under construction and expected to be completed by the end of 2017.
The construction of Xekong Bridge has received financial support from Japan while the road itself is being funded through Lao government expenditure.
“The bridge will link to Road No 16B that will also link to Vietnam,” Mr Ngampasong said.
“However we will have to see if it is possible for the two roads to become Asean Highways because they are only at Class IV grade under the Asean standards,” he said.
“So it is necessary for them to be upgraded to Class III, which will require a large amount of financial support.”
The roads, designated as Class IV, can only bear loads up to 8.2 tonnes to 9.1 tonnes per axle. However under the Asean Class III standard, all regional highways must be able to carry loads up to 11 tonnes per axle.
The Roads Department reports that Laos has designated eight national roads as AH routes recently, covering a distance of over 2,810km.
However Laos has only two national roads that meet the Asean standard, while the other ones will have to be upgraded as they are still only listed as Class IV grade under Asean standards.
Laos has to improve or upgrade these roads so they reach Class III in terms of the weight they can bear, as Laos agreed with other Asean countries.
The Lao road network now extends over some 45,800km. This includes some 7,370km of national roads, of which 2,810km is already included in the Asean Highway network.
The Asean Highway Network (AHN) project is a flagship infrastructure project that seeks to bring connectivity across borders and confer many benefits, such as improved competitiveness for regional production networks, better trade and investment flows and reductions in development gaps.
Asean leaders adopted the Master Plan on Asean Connectivity in October 2010, which identified the AHN project as one of 15 prioritised projects to bridge the connectivity gap within Asean.
