DP World chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem has warned that huge investment in transport infrastructure will be critical if Eurasian countries are to see the full benefits of China's push to develop maritime and land 'Silk Roads" between Asia and Europe.

'One Belt One Road" (OBOR) - sometimes also known as the 'Belt and Road Initiative" - is a development strategy and framework promoted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to redirect China's domestic overcapacity and capital for regional infrastructure development to improve trade and relations with Asean, Central Asian and European countries.

DP World Group chief urged the 60 governments of the OBOR group of nations to work together more closely to improve transport and logistics networks.

"Commentators estimate that OBOR countries need another US$5 trillion for infrastructure development from 2016 to 2020," he said. "One way to fund it is by trading blocs finding innovative ways of working together with a focus on infrastructure provision, developing the financial markets, mitigating risks and eliminating red tape to attract investors."

Multiple forwarders are now operating rail services from Asia to Europe and, increasingly, into the Middle East as part of OBOR, which is gradually simplifying cross-border procedures, increasing rail capacity and reducing cross-border trading costs on a range of transcontinental routes, reports Lloyd's Loading List.

Bin Sulayem said that OBOR's magnitude meant it was essential to further remove complexities from the supply chain to realise the project's potential.

"International transport routes need to support seamless trade movement more than ever - this means simplifying customs requirements and standardising logistics, addressing different rail gauges and ICT issues so that goods can move smoothly from point A to B without interruption and unnecessary bottlenecks," he said. "This requires cross-sector and cross-border partnerships."

If they did not take action then OBOR would struggle to realise its potential, he warned.