Though incomplete, the Trans-Asia Highway (T-AH), conceived by countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) and supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is already proving its economic benefits and capacity to dramatically transform the region.

The highway itself, says Paul Turner who works with ADB’s Mekong department, is “an excellent place to invest”. In Ho Chin Minh city for a regional business for-um, Turner said the East-West Economic Corridor (E-WEC) signalled to investors that the “Mekong is open for business”. Due to be completed in 2008, the East-West, North-South, and Southern Economic Corridors will link different parts of Vietnam to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. The 1500 km EW-EC will link Vietnam’s central seaport of Danang with the Andaman Sea in Myanmar.

In a next step, ADB will push the TAH further to India. The GMS countries hope the corridors would increase physical connectivity with other regional countries, help increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace, and increase the sense of a Mekong community that is peaceful and prosperous.

“Transport infrastructure is crucial to facilitating the trade and investment that will contribute to economic development and poverty reduction in the region,” said Hoang Van Dung, vice chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry that co-organised the conference. He added that the TAH would greatly shorten the distance and reduce the cost of economic exchange between the Asia-Pacific countries and India.

Already, India has in place a ‘Look East’ policy as part of which it is developing the city of Guwahati, capital of Assam state, so that it could serve as a future hub for trade and commerce in a region that includes China’s southern province of Yunnan. India, which already does $25 billion worth of annual trade with members of the ten-nation Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), hopes to double that figure by signing an Indo-ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA) in January 2007.

Seven ASEAN countries, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Mala-ysia and Singapore will become readily accessible fr-om India once the TAH is complete. The other countries, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei will benefit indirectly. “The development of the TAH is of immense importance to India,” Rajiv Sikri, a senior Indian diplomat told this age-ncy in an interview. “India is anxious to revive overland links in the region that have existed for centuries but clo-sed down in recent history.”

The Hai Van Tunnel linking EWEC to Danang seaport has been completed, together with the road linking Vietnam to Laos. Turner said that about five years ago, his travel along the EWEC, from Vietnam’s central city of Hue to Savannakhet in Laos was difficult and took a whole day. Now, with infrastructure improvements, he could have breakfast in Hue, lunch in Savannakhet and dinner in Thailand’s Khon Khaen.

“The benefits of EWEC are numerous, but let’s remember that it is still very early,” said Turner. “Those benefits have the potential to impact the lives of GMS people for generations to come.” Since the GMS Economic Cooperation Programme began in 1992, ADB has provided not only financial support but also technical advice on the economic and social development of the GMS countries. — IPS