Asian Highway: Modern Silk Road Promises Economic Benefits

Another piece of the ambitious 87,546 mile Asian Highway (AH) network slotted into place last month as Vietnam completed its section. The milestone was announced by Do Ngoc Dung, vice director of the Vietnam government's My Thuan Project Management Unit. The Asian Highway now links Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. The $144.77 million construction bill was partly financed by the Asian Development Bank.

When completed, the $44 billion AH network will weave through 32 countries, connect Asia with Europe, and boost regional economies by facilitating trade and tourism. It also fuels dreams of a Pan-Asian community with a common social-political-economic identity analogous to the European Union.

"There is a 12 to 20 percent [increase in growth] with greater investment in highways in India," said A. Veeraragavan, a professor with the leading Indian Institute of Technology and one of the country's top experts in highway engineering. "The GDP growth rate may vary from Asian country to country, but the bottom line is more advantages with better highways, from saving lives lost in traffic accidents to economic benefits."