Governance of Transport Corridors in OIC Member States:
Challenges, Cases and Policy Lessons
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and methods of monitoring data on trade and transport facilitation. Business process analysis, time-
cost-distance survey approach and time release studies are examples of methodologies taught during
the training. The goal is for the participants to be able to conduct a TTFMM in their respective country.
7.1.9 Assessment of transport governance level
The seven corridor governance domains of the UNESCAP Central Corridor, as presented in this section,
are ranked against the four defined corridor governance levels (information exchange; coordination;
cooperation; integration), as introduced in The UNESCAP corridor governance levels are
presented below, based on the review of documentation.
Table 7.2 UNESCAP Central Corridor governance levels
Governance domains Information Coordination Cooperation Integration
Corridor objectives and political
support

Legal framework 
Institutional framework 
Infrastructure: financing, planning and
programming

Corridor performance monitoring and
dissemination

Corridor promotion and stakeholder
consultation

Capacity building: technical assistance
and studies

Source: consortium.
7.1.10 Conclusions
The advantage of the Eurasian Corridors is that its objectives are based upon longstanding research
on transport infrastructure in the Asian Pacific in the region. Its initiator, UNESCAP, has been
established in 1947 and has extensive experience with initiating projects and capacity building
activities with respect to transport. There are various ongoing transport projects, such as the
development of the Asian Highway (2004), the Trans-Asian Railway (2006), Transport facilitation
(2012), and Dry Ports (2011). The Eurasian Corridors is a continuation of the implementation of these
initiatives. By establishing a governance platform on the corridor level, strategic transport planning in
the Asian Pacific is elevated to the next level of integration. The draft MoU recently published by
UNESCAP and which is to be signed by all members proposes the establishment of various governance
institutions to facilitate the cooperation in transport development between the nations (UN-ESCAP,
2017).
Moreover, the potential of the Eurasian corridor is in its size. The Eurasian Corridors are the most
extensive regional transport cooperation project in the region. The Central Corridor will be developed
in relation to the Northern- and Southern corridor, and together, cover the whole of the Asian Pacific
region. However, its size may be its greatest challenge. It is no small feat aligning the different views
and interests of so many different countries. The Eurasian Corridors covers 23 countries, 46 border
crossings, and 36 port cities. The Central Corridor itself crosses through 13 countries, and of the fifteen
border crossings, twelve are covered by bilateral agreements (UNESCAP, 2017, p. 125). To make
matters more complicated, many (transport) cooperation projects already exists in the region, such as
CPEC, CAREC, EATL, ECO, OTIF to name a few.