Announcement of Bolivian Transport Survey on April 11, 1967

• 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20.433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 For Release April 11, 1967 Subject: Bolivian Transport Survey The United Nations Development Programme, the Republic of Bolivia and the World Bank have signed an agreement providing for a comprehensive survey of all modes of transport in Bolivia and the fonnulation of a 10-year coordinated pro- gram of transport development. The United Nations Development Progrannne has allocated $834,800 to cover the foreign exchange costs of the integrated transport survey. The local cur- rency costs, which will amount to the equivalent of $254,000, will be borne by • the Bolivian Government. The World Bank is Executing Agency for the project • The Government has retained the consulting £inn of Daniel, Mann, Johnson, and Mendenhall of Los Angeles, California, in association with;Stanford Research Institute and Alan M. Voorhees and Associates, Inc. (McLean, Virginia), to undertake the survey. The survey is expected to take about a year. Bolivia, a land-locked country with a mountainous terrain, presents dif- ficult transport problems. The western third of the country encompasses the Andean Highlands, w~ile to the east and north lie the lowlands and the tropi- cal jungles of the Amazon Basin. Most of the mineral production, which pro- vides the bulk of Bolivia's exports, are found in the mountain zone and are exported through ports in Chile by the western railway system. There is also· an eastern railway system which linkp. Bolivia to Brazil and Argentina, but the two networks are not,connected. 4s. ~ consequence the only connections between • the eastern and western parts of the country are by road or air. There are at  - 2 - present over 8,000 miles of roads, an international airport at La Paz equipped ,~ to handle jet aircraft and some 200 small airfields handling light cargo planes, many in areas served by no other transport. The Government operates a small fleet of river craft, mainly in the north where there are a number of navigable rivers, which carry a certain amount of local freight and some foreign trade with Brazil. The survey will include a study of the existing transport system (including pipelines) and of future needs for transport services, with special emphasis on those which are likely to be required for the export of agricultural products, minerals, oil and gas; an analysis of the prospective transport demand generated in each major sector of the Bolivian economy; an assessment of the cost of each mode of transport and of Government policies with respect to transport; and a • study of, the possibilities and costs of alternative means of transport. A co- ordinated program of transport development for the years 1968 through 1977 will be formulated, indicating priorities for specific investment projects and sources for financing them. An outline of Government pplicies and measures to implement such a program will be prepared, including p~oposals for the establishment of an appropriate organization to coordinate and regulate all forms of transport. Pro- vision has been made in the agreement for training selected professional staff under fellowships during 1968 and 1969. •