ADB finances Bangladesh transport corridor

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to finance US$ 198 million to fund a partial upgrade of the Dhaka-Chittagong-Northwest transport corridor in Bangladesh.

The SASEC Road Connectivity Project will improve a 70 km section of the road, which is the second busiest arterial route in the country. The work will include expanding the current two-lane highway to four lanes.

The initiative will also upgrade land ports at Benapole and Burimari, which handle the bulk of goods transported between Bangladesh and India.

The development will take five years to complete and will be carried out by a public-private partnership initiative. A five-year road maintenance contract will also be included in the works contract.

The SASEC programme is an initiative of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal to build closer links that will spur growth and development across the sub-region.

The OPEC Fund for International Development and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development will also each provide co-financing loans of $30 million.