Bangladesh on Thursday sought foreign help to implement several mega projects in the communication sector that would cost about US dollar 6,804 million.
The projects include construction of Padma Bridge, Dhaka-Chittagong Expressway, Second Meghna and Meghna-Gumti Bridges on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and 4-lanning of important sections of national highways.
Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain said this while presiding over the opening session of a two-day ministerial session of the five-day meeting of the Forum of Asian Ministers of Transport in Bangkok.
UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (UNESCAP) is organizing the meeting in the Thai capital, a message received here said.
Ministers from 14 countries, delegates from 40 member- countries and different financing institutions as well as regional and sub-regional organisations are attending the meeting.
The Bangladesh Communication Minister was unanimously elected Chairperson of the session. Sophon Zaram, Minister of Transport of Thailand delivered the inaugural speech while opening the session.
Earlier, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP Noeleen Heyzer read out the message of the UN Secretary General. At the outset of the of meeting, the Chairperson invited Kamal Nath, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, India, to deliver his speech.
Other members of the Bangladesh delegation include Khandaker Md Iftekhar Haider, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Communication's Roads and Rail Division, and Md T A Chowdhury, Additional Director General of Bangladesh Railway.
The Communication Minister said Bangladesh has consented to the Inter-Governmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network to link the country with 31 Asian countries.
The government has also been making relentless efforts to construct the missing links of the Asian Highway, he told the session preceded by a meeting of the senior officials from December 14 to December 16.
Afghanistan's Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation Faorouqi, Indonesian Vice Minister for Transportation Bambang Susatono, Japan's Assistant Vice Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Communication Tadashi, Kyrgyzstan Deputy Minister for Transport and Communication Mamataliev, Mongolian Vice Minister for Road, Transportation, Construction and Urban Development Tugs Purevdorj, Myanmar's Deputy Minister for Rail Transportation Upe Than, Nepalese Minister for Labour and Transport Management Mohammed Aftab Alam, Korean Deputy Minister for Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Soon man Hong, Russian Deputy Minister for Transport Andrey Nedosekov, Tajikistan Minister for Land and Communication Boboev Olimjon, Thailand Deputy Minister for Transport Keurkul Danchaivichit, Turkey's Minister for Transports and Communication Binali Yildirim and Uzbekistan Vice Minister for Transport A Kamolov, among others were present at the function.
Sayed Abul Hossain said the entire network of Asian Highway in Bangladesh needs to be upgraded from 2 lanes to 4 lanes in phases. The main railway corridors also need to be upgraded to double track side by side with standardizing the tracks of regional importance for the sake of smooth inter- country movement.
He also spoke on policy debate on issues pertaining to transport development in Asia, implementation of the Busan Declaration on Transport Development in Asia and the Pacific and Regional Action Programme for Transport Development in Asia and the Pacific, phase I (2007-2011)
The Communication Minister appreciate the efforts made by ESCAP for perusing the implementation of the Asian Highway, the Trans- Asian Railway and the facilitation of land transport, as part of Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development (ALTID) initiative.
"The Bangladesh government already signed the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) Network and the cabinet this year also agreed to place the agreement before the Parliament for ratification," he said.
To strengthen the TAR network in Bangladesh, Sayed Abul Hossain said the government has already taken up a number of projects for implementation. They include double tracking of railways on Tongi-Bhairab bazar, Akhaura-Laksam and Laksam- Chinkiastana routes as part of Dhaka- Chittagong railway corridor.
Other projects are: capacity enhancement by improving the track capacity and signaling system between Rajshahi-Rohanpur and Darshana-Ishurdi and restoration of the railway connectivity between Kulaura-Shahbazpur for establishing connectivity with north-east India.
He expressed the hope that these projects would be completed with active cooperation of financial institutions like World Bank, Asian Development Bank, JICA, EDCF and friendly countries and development partners.
In connection with establishment of regional connectivity, Bangladesh has already adopted the recommendations of SAARC Regional Multi Modal Transport Study (SRMTS), he said.
"Bangladesh is currently undertaking consultation with its neighbors to open up some of the regional connectivity and including access of landlocked territories and countries to our seaports," he said adding, "Bangladesh is fortunate to have a suitable site for 'Deep Seaport' development which could serve the needs of the sub-region around Bangladesh."
The present government has already adopted a National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (NSAPR-II) for the period of FY 2009-11 reflecting the new perspective with due focus on upcoming challenges, particularly to address the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs).
Bangladesh has also adopted a 'Vision-21' and actions are being taken to increase the national GDP from 6 percent to 8 percent by the year 2013 and up to 10 percent by the year 2017, the Communication Minister said.