DHAKA: The Asian Development Bank will loan Bangladesh $300 million to help upgrade an international trade corridor, the ADB said on Wednesday.

The loan is the first tranche of $1.2 billion of multi-tranche ADB loans for the second phase of an international road corridor project in Bangladesh.

“This project will help boost trade along the second busiest road artery in the country and further strengthen regional connectivity,” Manmohan Parkash, the ADB’s Bangladesh country director, said at a signing ceremony in Dhaka.

“This will also help bring down transport costs, make the sector more competitive, and make transportation between Dhaka and north-western Bangladesh more efficient.”

ADB has been supporting the government in improving the Dhaka-Northwest road corridor since approval of the Jamuna Bridge Project in 1994.

Transport infrastructure is the centrepiece of the ADB-supported South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program, which promotes regional prosperity.

Since 2001, SASEC members have invested more than $9.17bn in regional projects, including 31 transport projects worth $7.3bn.

Road travel accounts for 70 per cent of all passenger traffic and 60pc of freight in Bangladesh, where traffic has been growing at a rate of 8pc a year.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2017