Govt today inks two loan deals with ADB

Bangladesh and the Asian Development Bank today sign two loan agreements for financing a project to upgrade the 72km Akhaura-Laksam section of Dhaka-Chittagong railway corridor.

The deals are $400 million ordinary capital resources (OCR) and $105 million Asian Development Fund (ADF), said an official yesterday.

Economic Relations Division Senior Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin and ADB Country Director Kazuhiko Higuchi will ink the deals on behalf of their sides for the project titled “South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Railway Connectivity: Akhaura-Laksam Double Track”.

The project will support the Bangladesh government in upgrading the 72km Akhaura-Laksam section of the Dhaka-Chittagong railway corridor to a double track railway line with modern signalling equipment, according to project documents.

The section is a part of a major sub-regional corridor and the Trans-Asian Railway network.

The project also aims at improving 11 railway stations and strengthening the capacity of the railway sector in project management and implementation.

By increasing the capacity of the major international trade corridor, the project will boost the national economy and facilitate sub-regional cooperation and trade.

On October 30, 2013, the project was endorsed by the SASEC Trade Facilitation and Transport Working Group at a meeting in Singapore.