The Asian Development Bank, or ADB, has approved $1.2 billion more to finance the second phase of the Dhaka-northwest international trade corridor in Bangladesh.
The ADB’s funds will be used to improve the 190km section from Elenga through Hatikurul to Rangpur, strengthen road operations and management and for further work on issues of road safety and gender responsiveness.
The total cost of the international road trade corridor project is $1.67 billion, the remaining $472.6 million of which will be financed by the government.
“Bangladesh has good prospects of becoming a regional trade hub, if the country’s transport infrastructure can be improved to bring down transport costs and make the sector more competitive,” said ADB South Asia Department Project Administration Unit Head Dong Kyu Lee
“To further these aims, the project is expected to significantly boost trade and prosperity along the trade corridor route, the second busiest artery in the country.”
The project is expected to significantly boost trade and prosperity along the trade corridor route, the second busiest artery in Bangladesh. Photo: Bangladesh government.
The ADB will also provide a $2 million technical assistance grant to support the government’s update of its Road Master Plan between January 2018 and December 2023.The ADB supported South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation, or SASEC, has invested in 31 transport projects worth $7.3 billion.
In Bangladesh, where road travel accounts for 70 percent of passenger traffic and 60 percent of freight and where traffic is growing at an 8 percent rate a year, according to the ADB, it has focused on developing transportation corridors.
The ADB partnered with the Bangladesh government on the Dhaka-northwest corridor in 1994.
A $198 million loan was approved in 2012 for the first phase of the project, which increased road capacity along 70km of the Joydevpur-Elenga section of the road and improved the operational efficiency of the land ports in Burimari and Benapole.
