Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday laid out a plan to upgrade the country's Pacific ports, vowing for Canada to become the crossroads of the huge markets in Asia and the United States.

During a tour in the busy western port of Vancouver, Harper reiterated the Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor initiative, originally set out by the former Liberal government, according to reports reaching here Wednesday.

The initiative, costing 591 million Canadian dollars (532 million U.S. dollars), includes improvements to cargo screening at the port of Prince Rupert and a high-tech system to manage container traffic at Vancouver.

Plans also call for the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway through Banff National Park, expansion of all commercial ports on the West Coast and upgrades to bridges and roads.

"Canada should be the crossroads between the massive engine of the United States and the burgeoning economies of Asia," Harper said.

Canada is currently responsible for only nine percent of West Coast container traffic, even though its ports are closer to Asian markets than is Los Angeles, Harper said.

The key contributors to Canada's economic destiny are the emerging titans of the world -- China, Japan, South Korea, India and Indonesia, he noted. "These represent many of the markets of tomorrow for many of Canada's products."

Harper said a high-traffic management system will be developed for the Lower Mainland in British Columbia to move containers into and out of port terminals faster and more efficiently.

Total container throughput is projected to rise from 2 million a year today to 7 million by 2020, Harper said.

Source: Xinhua