The Asian Transport Observatory (ATO) significantly influenced conversations about sustainable transport during two important United Nations events in Bangkok last week. Sudhir Gota, the co-team lead of ATO, shared his expert insights at the eleventh Biennial Meeting of the Working Group on the Asian Highway and Road Safety Week.

The Biennial Meeting of the Working Group on the Asian Highway, held at the United Nations Conference Centre on 4-5 June 2025, concentrated on the implementation and possible amendments to the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network. The ATO actively participated in advancing the dialogue on the operationalisation of the network, delivering a presentation on related policies and issues. Furthermore, the ATO was instrumental in the development of the secretariat's note on "Policies and issues related to the operationalization of the Asian Highway Network." The Working Group acknowledged the challenges and advancements related to the Regional Action Programme for Sustainable Transport Development in Asia and the Pacific (2022-2026) in several key areas: addressing the quantitative and qualitative gaps in road infrastructure; enhancing road transport logistics performance to tackle ongoing connectivity issues, particularly for landlocked developing nations; and improving road safety challenges.

Running parallel to this, the Road Safety Week, from June 2-5, 2025, provided a platform for stakeholders to address the pressing issue of road safety in the region. Mr. Gota's presentation on behalf of the ATO highlighted the current state of road safety policies. The ATO aimed to make government officials and stakeholders aware of the critical need to align national policies with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets 3.6, which seeks to reduce global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by half, and 11.2, which emphasises the importance of safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems for everyone.

Attachments