Coordinating emergency response efforts along the Asian Highway network.

The fragmented policy responses to the pandemic have revealed shortcomings in regional cooperation on cross-border transport in times of pandemics and other disruptions. Recognizing this, the secretariat published a special policy brief on policy responses to COVID-19 and transport connectivity in Asia and the Pacific and set up a dedicated webpage to monitor policy responses along the regional transport network.15 The secretariat has also held several online meetings on COVID-19 and transport connectivity, including an expert group meeting on safe and seamless transport connectivity along the Asian Highway network during and after the pandemic, on 25 June 2020.

The expert group reviewed the considerable efforts made by member States to ensure that essential road transport could continue along the Asian Highway network. It highlighted the major steps that had been taken in thedigitization and facilitation of cross-border transport as part of the COVID-19 response. At the same time, it registered important concerns about the state of regional connectivity and recalled that regional cooperation provided the most effective means of response in the course of the crisis and in its aftermath. In that context, the expert group recommended that the member countries of the network consider common responses and regional arrangements, including the following: (a) setting up a centralized source of information on national measures affecting regional transport connectivity; b) developing recommendations on standardized cross-border freight transport procedures and formalities under special circumstances similar to the pandemic; and (c) considering regional or subregional arrangements for joint collective action such as the establishment of green lanes or corridors, mutual recognition or waiver of transport documents and other appropriate measures. 

This view was reiterated by transport experts from 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries who participated in a joint webinar on preserving transport connectivity and building freight transport resilience inASEAN, organized by the ESCAP secretariat and held on 9 July 2020 in cooperation with the International Transport Forum and the ASEAN secretariat. During the webinar, representatives requested support for their countries in the development of recovery guidelines for resilient and sustainable connectivity with a focus on cross-border road transport. 

Following up on these requests, the secretariat is working on technical and policy tools to support a more harmonized approach to the pandemicresponse in cross-border transport. Such a harmonized response could be achieved by establishing regional or subregional guidelines on pandemic response and recovery actions related to cross-border freight. It could also be supported by harmonized model provisions to be inserted into existing regional or bilateral transport agreements. To support advancement in this area, additional resources were mobilized by the secretariat under the framework of the United Nations system-wide rapid response project entitled “Transport and trade connectivity in the age of pandemics: United Nations solutions for contactless, seamless and collaborative transport and trade”