ISLAMABAD, March 20: Japan is playing a significant role in development of highways network in Pakistan and mutual cooperation will pave the way for more improvements in this regard.

This was stated by Joint Secretary of Ministry of Communications Mussadaq Mohammad Khan at the inaugural session of a seminar on "Highway maintenance and management", held here at the National Highway Authority (NHA) head office on Saturday.

Mr Khan said road building and highway safety experts of Japan were playing a commendable role for development of highways network in Pakistan and that Japanese cooperation in research and development fields was of great importance.

In order to protect infrastructure, particular attention needs to be paid towards maintenance and management of national highways, he said.

He said close cooperation between the experts of both the sides would provide an opportunity to benefit from each other's experiences and observations. He appreciated the steps taken by NHA chairman Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed to improve the authority's performance.

Speaking at the concluding session of the seminar, the NHA chairman said besides construction and maintenance of highways, the NHA was also playing the role of a service provider organization.

He said mutual cooperation between the authority and Japan International Cooperation Agency would prove useful for improvement of highways in the country. He said attitude of the road users and implementation of rules and regulations were of great significance with a view to making journey safe on highways.

Gen Farrukh said concrete measures were needed to check accidents and to control overloading.

He said the total length of national highways was about 9,000 kms, and that the Karachi- Lahore-Peshawar national highway was the busiest in the country.

This main artery, he said, was being dualized on priority basis, while specific sections of this highway would be improved under the National Highway Improvement Programme (NHIP).

He said three contracts of the NHIP had been awarded. The NHA, he said, was annually obtaining Rs2.5 to Rs3 billion from toll tax. He said toll collection system was being improved and eventually this income would increase.

The toll tax money is being used for development and maintenance of highway network and the NHA will come up to the expectations with regard to keeping the highways in good condition.

Japanese experts Prof Kashima, Mr Fujinami and Mr Yamakawa gave presentation on highway safety, pavement management technology and overloading.