Capacity building Workshop on

Strenghtening Integrated Intermodal

Transport Connectivity for Southeast

and South-Southwest Asia

March 9, 2018

Bangkok

UNESCAP

Policies, planning and challenges related to transport sector

1. Brief country profile

2. Background on transport sector

3. Policies

4. Plans

5.Implementation challenges

1. Brief Country Profile

Area: 38,394 sq km Population: 779,666 (2017 est.) Terrain : Mostly mountainous (160 m to

more than 7,000 m above sea level) Forest cover: 72% approximately Arable land: About 8% • GDP: 6.9% (2016) small country, small

economy

• Bilateral Trade relations: India , Bangladesh and Thailand.

Of the total 12,249 km; 13 highways totaling to 1,942 km constitute the primary road network, 632 km secondary road network, and the remaining as feeder roads and farm roads

Of the existing twenty one entry/exit points for cross-border transport, five north-south highways connect to the road network in India.

The double-lane 174 km Phuntsholing - Thimphu Primary National Highway is designated as the Asian Highway [AH48]. It is connected to the Asian Highway Network at Phulbari, Silguri area in India providing onward connection to the larger Asian Highway network.

PT Highway caters to over 1,000 vehicles daily and is therefore the busiest highway in the country. The traffic is likely to grow significantly to over 7,500 VPD by 2040.

Phuntsholing is the main gateway for international trade (catering to over 82% transport and trade).

Sea ports in India (Kolkata and Haldia) are currently the main maritime gateways for international trade.

2. Background

2. Background

Free movement of Bhutanese vehicles in India

No formal Transport Agreement with India or other neighboring countries

Besides freight cargo, scheduled passenger transport buses also operate between Bhutan and India

Transit transport from point A in Bhutan to point B in Bhutan take place through India

Transport connectivity and transit to other neighbouring countries, namely Bangladesh and Nepal, also take place through India.

The following road corridors provide access to sea-ports:

Phuentsholing – Jaigaon – Hasimara- Siliguri – Kolkata

Phuentsholing - Burimari – Khulna - Dhaka – Chittagong/Mongla (B’desh)

Samdrupjongkhar – Guwahati – Chittagong (B’desh) – Kolkata (India) – alternate route from the eastern part of the country.

2. Background on transport sector Transport System: Land (Surface tranpsort continues to be the main

means of transport) and Air Transport (2 airlines ) Connects to eight destination in South Asia (Bangkok, Nepal, Singapore, India (Delhi, Kolkata, Gaya, Bagdogra and Guwahati) Airports: 1 Int’l and 3 domestic airports (3 destinations) Dry ports: 2 dry Ports. -Phuentsholing (Mini Dry Port) with financial support from SASEC ADB. Since June 2017 from 20 months (by mid 2019) -Dry port at Paskha with financial support from world bank under egional connectivity project 12 FYP (DPR completed) start mid 2018

Road Network: Five major Border Crossing Points in relation to Indian Highway network

2. Background (key stakeholders in transport sector) Sl. No Agency Role

1 Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA), and Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC)

lead agency

Royal Bhutan Police Enforcement

Department of Roads (DoR), Ministry of Works and Human Settlement (MoWHS)

Responsible for Planning, Designing and Construction of Roads, Bridges and other Road infrastructure

Municipalities Urban Roads and Urban Transport

Local Government Authorities Block and district level road construction, parking etc.

Ministry of Economic Affairs Trade facilitation (Dry Ports)

2. Background

Impact of development

trends on transport

sector

Industrial development

Tourism

Poverty Reduction

Electricity production and

hydropower projects

3. Policies

Draft-National Transport Policy 2017(“To provide the entire population with a safe, reliable, affordable, convenient,

cost effective and environmentally friendly transport system in support of

strategies for socio- economic development”)

Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (Goals 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13)

3. Policies/strategies

• Importance of regional connectivity emphasized in the National Transport Policy and 2040 Integrated Strategic Vision …..with the objective to; • Reduce transport costs and travel time between Bhutan and countries in the region

through improved infrastructure;

• Support implementation of easier and faster custom procedures - border crossing points;

• Support the development of beneficial and implementable trade and transit agreements

• This is evident through Bhutan’s active membership and participation in all the regional initiatives (SAARC, SASEC, BIMSTEC, Asian Highway Network, Trans-Asian Railway etc).

4. Planning

1. Building and Ensuring Safe, Reliable, Secure and Competitive Aviation Services

• Standards of civil aviation safety and security enhanced

• Efficiency and effectiveness of regulatory oversight enhanced

• Connectivity to Domestic and International air routes enhanced

• Air Navigation Services enhanced (the international standards met )

4.Planning

2. Safe, reliable eco-friendly and sustainable surface transport Programme

• Sustainable and eco-friendly (mass) transport system enhanced(Ev program)-GHG controlled

• Inclusive transport system provided (Construction of wheel chair ramps at bus terminals, Allocation of designated seats for differently-abled, pregnant women, old age people in the urban passenger buses )

• Road safety enhanced (through Reduced annual road traffic crash)

• Surface Transport connectivity to wider networks (rural, urban, national and regional) increased

• Dry ports development ( Sarpang and Samdrupjongkhar)

5. Challenges

Transport infrastructure gap

- limited scope for rail and inland water transport

- Lack of dry ports, warehouse facilities, cold storage

- poor road condition

Lack of access to sea, remoteness & isolation result in high transport and trade transaction costs…some studies show 50 % higher transport costs

Rugged mountainous and steep gradient terrain, lack of productive capacity and limited export base

Extreme weather conditions

5. Challenges

Reduction in GHG

Small volume of cargo makes it unfeasible to book railway wagons or use bigger containers to and from the sea port.

Connectivity to LLDCs – Landlocked countries of the region have special development needs and connectivity with rest of the world is extremely important to address them.

Thank you!