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Financing worth US$150 million is being provided by the World Bank, which will be used to help pay for road development work in Mozambique. The funding will be aimed at upgrades to roads in Mozambique’s Nampula Province and Zambezia Province. One of the key upgrades will be to a 70km section of the road connecting Namacurra with Quelimane. The aim of the work is to improve transport for the agricultural sector in the respective provinces.

A funding package will help pay for road rebuilding work in Kazakhstan. The US$106 million of financing is being supplied by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. This will be used to pay for improvements to a 67km stretch of the Kurty-Kapshagai highway connecting capital Almaty with the city of Astana.

Chile has announced a major development in its transport network, with a budget being set for infrastructure growth. The current administration plans to spend US$2 billion on upgrading the country’s transport links, including roads and highways, airports and urban/underground rail. New plans are being set for the tenders for eight highways with their current concessions due to come to an end within the coming three years. The concessions involved in these tenders will be for some 1,500km of roads in all.

The incidence of road crashes continues to rise at an alarming rate, and is now a leading cause of death and serious injury among young adults in fast-motorising countries. 11 thought leaders combining extensive experience in economic analysis, diagnosis tools and countermeasures shared strategies and applied practices that can result in better dimensioned and targeted safety action plans. The closing roundtable examined the incentives that exist for stakeholders in emerging economies to collaborate across

Mozambique’s Maputo-Catembe Bridge is due to open shortly and will become Africa’s longest suspension bridge. The 3km bridge will form part of the road connection between Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, and Catembe. The bridge is costing over US$700 million, with much of the necessary funding being provided by the Export Import Bank of China. The new bridge will improve transport and reduce journey times for drivers, who currently have to rely on ferries travelling between Maputo and Catembe.

New highway bypasses are being planned for South Kazakhstan. The routes will bypass the cities of Shymkent and Sarygash and will feature two lanes in either direction. The projects are costing US$303.5 million in all to construct. A portion of the necessary funding for constrution and operation of these bypasses will be provided via grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

A 162km stretch of Ecuador’s highway route 40 is to be upgraded, improving the road’s safety and capacity. The section of highway being improved includes the stretch that links the town of Santa Elena, which lies on the Pacific Coast, with the city of Guayaquil, on the Guayas River. The contract now includes work to 30km more of the highway than was originally planned. The contractor Verdu is to carry out the PPP deal, which is expected to be worth US$231 million over the 20-year concession period.

The Russian Government is now working on a national plan for a new network of highways to improve transport across the country. This programme has been initiated by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. The aim of the plan is to increase the number of high quality, high speed roads linking the country.

Delays may be a possibility for the construction of the Agua Negra Tunnel, which will run through the Andes mountain range and connect Argentina and Chile. The tendering process is being held back while further geological studies are carried out. An analysis of the initial geological work carried out so far for the project has highlighted a number of discrepancies with the information gathered. It is known that there are three main fault lines cutting across the intended tunnel route however. The tunnel

Upgrade work is now underway on a key section of National Road No3 in Cambodia. The 134km stretch connects Kamput with Bek Kus and the work will cost US$200 million. The Cambodian Government has budgeted to carry out the upgrade work. The financing for the project is backed by a loan from China, as is the project to build a 187km ring road around Phnom Penh.