It's transit, not corridor
Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the government is not allowing a 'corridor' to any country, rather it is going to provide transit facility.
"Ideas on regional connectivity need to be clarified. The government is not going to give a corridor. It is a political idea, but transit is a different concept. Under transit, goods come in and go out," he added.
He was addressing the plenary session of a conference on Bangladesh 2030: Strategy for Growth at a hotel in the capital. Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised the event.
In the afternoon session, M Rahmatullah, former director (transport) of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, spoke at a roundtable styled 'Infrastructure Development: A Precondition to Accelerated Growth'.
"We are now too dependent on roads," he said.
In the first five-year plan from 1973-78, the government allocated nearly 32 percent of the annual development programme budget for road communications, which has now reached 65 percent, added Rahmatullah.
He also observed that the country is not in a position to offer transit facilities to its neighbours because of poor infrastructures like road capacity, railway, navigability and handling capacity at ports.
According to him, Bangladesh could gain in two ways -- transit fees or toll and sharing of benefits.
Mahbubur Rahman, president of International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh, moderated the morning session, while Aftab-Ul Islam, chairman of SME Foundation, moderated the afternoon session.
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