Part of Trans Asia road that passes through Indonesian territory will be completed by 2014, Indonesian Public Works Minister Joko Kirmanto said.

"The trans-Sumatra and trans-Kalimantan roads will be connected by the end of this year. We will improve the road quality gradually each year. Hopefully by 2014 all of those roads will be complied with Trans Asia requirements," the Bisnis Indonesia Thursday quoted Joko as saying.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar discussing Indonesian roads that would be part of Trans Asia road held here on Wednesday, Joko said that Indonesia would contribute 7,000 kilometers of roads in the Asian grand road plan.

Those Indonesian roads are Trans Eastern Sumatra road (3,000 kilometers), Northern Java's coastline road (1,000 kilometers) and Trans Southern Kalimantan road (3,000 kilometers), he said.

The minister explained that the Trans Eastern Sumatra links the northernmost part of Sumatra to the southernmost part of the key island. Meanwhile the Northern Java's coastline road connects the westernmost to the easternmost tip of the key island.

The Trans Kalimantan road will be linked to the roads in the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, he added.

To ensure the connectivity of the roads between Indonesia and Malaysia, the two governments had agreed to construct a grand bridge over Malacca strait that links the roads in the two neighboring countries.

The Trans Asia road was initiated by the United Nations (UN) in1959, aimed at improving the economy in Asian country.

According to the agreement signed by Asian countries in November 18 2003, Trans Asia road would comprise of 55 road routes across 32 Asian countries.

The agreement says that the 13,177 kilometer-long Trans Asia road would start from Bali, Indonesia and to end in Khosravi, Iran.

Source: Xinhua