Trans-Asian Railway Network to inject vitality to trade in landlocked states

The intergovernmental agreement to build the Trans-Asian Railway Network (TARN) that came into force in June 2009 is particularly significant to landlocked nations in the Asia-Pacific region. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), less than 1% of the more than US$1,000 billion of trade between Europe and Asia is now transported through Central Asia, a region that used to be at the very heart of the trade route. Of the world’s 30 landlocked states, 12 are in Asia. Cut off from the sea, landlocked countries are usually noticeably poorer and less developed than countries with a coast.

The Asian rail link is poised to give an economic lift to the 12 landlocked countries in the region. The emergence of "dry ports" in provincial areas is expected to create "new economies of scale" and help to reduce gaps between the poorer provincial economies and the robust economies that have emerged over long years of development in and around seaport areas. Railway communication in the whole of South Asia is one of the main means of communications. The plan to develop dry ports will add to this importance.