P ti f d t l t itPromoting fundamental transit transport and infrastructuretransport, and infrastructure 

development and maintenance  pin the LLDC’s

Discussion Paperpby 

Mohammad Asif‐uz‐ZamanMohammad Asif‐uz‐ZamanBangladesh

Review of the paper• Critically addressed the first two priorities of APoA Both policy issues and InfrastructureAPoA. Both policy issues and Infrastructure Development.

• It gave a region wise account of present state of• It gave a region wise account of present state of conditions of LLDC’s with their unique characteristicscharacteristics

• Different financing modes to make a way forwardA l d I i i l Fi i l d i l• Analyzed Institutional, Financial and commercial aspects of the challenges and opportunities for b id i thbridging the gap.

• Made a number of recommendations.

Transit regime‐ Perspective Bangladesh

T i l d•Transit arrangements already exists between Bangladesh and India ( not LLDC)and India ( not LLDC)

•Bangladesh  has potentiality to offer transit facilities to both the south Asian LLDC’s : N l d Bh tNepal and Bhutan.  

•A number of AgreementsA number of  Agreements   and Protocols are in force to facilitate  inter border transit.

Political Dimension of TransitPolitical Dimension of Transit

A Joint Communiqué signed on January 12,2010 between Bangladesh and India set stageg gfor offering multi‐modal transit access toIndia and Port access to Nepal and BhutanIndia, and Port access to Nepal and Bhutan

Three areas Identified:• River Transit• Ports Road and Rail• Ports, Road and Rail• Rail Infrastructures.

Identified issuesIdentified issues

• River Transit: Ashuganj in Bangladesh and Silghatin India will serve as ‘Ports of call’

• Ports, Road and Rail: Bangladesh intends to allow use of Mongla and Chittagong sea Ports foruse of Mongla and Chittagong sea Ports for movement of goods to and from India and also to offer port access to Nepal and Bhutanoffer port access to Nepal and Bhutan

• Rail Infrastructures: Missing links in Rail network id ifi d d i d kidentified and actions underway to make up, including ‘gauge conversion’ where necessary.

Transit between Bangladesh and NepalTransit between Bangladesh and Nepal

T d d P t A t d th T it• Trade and Payment Agreement, and the Transit Agreement along with a protocol to the Transit Agreement have been in place between Bangladesh g p gand Nepal since April 1976. The transit agreement exempted all traffic‐in‐transit from transit duties or other charges Six points of entry and exit for theother charges. Six points of entry and exit for the movement of Nepalese traffic‐in‐transit through Bangladesh's ports and territory were designated.  Under those arrangements movement of goods from and to Nepal through the territory of Bangladesh by railways is allowed For this purpose a Memorandum ofrailways is allowed. For this purpose a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh and India was signed.

Transit between Bangladesh and Nepal(Continued)

A th M U t ffi i t it t d f• As per the MoU, traffic in transit to and from Nepal and Bangladesh is allowed to move by rail through Radhikapur railway station in India andthrough Radhikapur railway station in India and Birol railway station in Bangladesh with their existing facilities. This route was suspended for g pgauge conversion on the Indian side and an alternative route‐ Rohonpur (Bangladesh)‐Si h b d (I di ) h b d b b thSinghabad (India) has been agreed upon by both governments and accordingly an addendum to the existing MoU has been signed in Septemberthe existing MoU has been signed in September 2011.

Road Transit between Bangladesh and Nepal

• As regards transit by road, Bangladesh and Nepal have been negotiating a draft p g gAgreement on Operational Modalities for the Carriage of Transit Cargo between Nepal andCarriage of Transit Cargo between Nepal and Bangladesh for long time. Seemingly, text was agreed upon during bilateral meeting held inagreed upon during bilateral meeting held in July 2011. However, both countries are yet to sign the agreement.

Agreement between Bangladesh and Bhutan

• Bangladesh and Bhutan have a transit i 1984 hi h iagreement since 1984, which is not 

operational at present. 

Assessing capacity for Transit traffic      ( Roads)

d f h l d h• Based on an assessment of the Bangladesh transport system and its operational capability to carry transit traffic, it was found that in the long run regional traffic will have to be carried mostly by rail and inland water transport (IWT). Since Bangladesh road network suffers from structural weakness (roads are designed for 8.2 ton axle load and are mostly of only 2‐lanes), these can be used in a limited way to carry only high value commodities.

Assessing capacity for Transit traffic      ( Ports/waterways)

f h i i l d• An assessment of the port capacities revealed that Mongla port has 80% and Chittagong port around 40% spare capacity at the present level of management. Some investments have already been planned to further modernize these ports and enhance their operational efficiency. Decision has already been taken to involve private sector to operate New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) as a leaseholder.

Major projects identified (Railways)Major projects identified (Railways)

• Re‐commissioning of Kulaura‐Shahbazpur‐Mahissasan (39 km). Own finance proposed( ) p p

• Construction of Akhaura‐Agartala rail link ‐10km Indian Grant10km‐ Indian Grant

• Double tracking of 3‐major sections along Dhaka‐Chittagong route‐ ADB, WB and JICA

• Construction of 2nd Bhairab Rail Bridge and 2nd• Construction of 2 Bhairab Rail Bridge and 2Titas Rail Bridge‐ Indian credit

Major projects identified (Railways)Major projects identified (Railways)

i f hi• Construction of an ICD at Dhirasram near Tongi, to be financed under a World Bank project.

• Strengthening of several rail sections, g g ,modernization of signaling & acquisition of rolling stock, to be financed from a number of g ,sources.

• 2nd rail bridge on Jamuna river ‐ funding is yet• 2 rail bridge on Jamuna river ‐ funding is yet to be mobilized

Proposed Road based core transit routes

lk l / l h k kh / di & l d hRoute 1 Kolkata‐ Petra pole/Benapole‐ Dhaka‐ Akhaura/ Agartala

India & Bangladesh

Route 2 Agartala‐ Akhaura‐Chittagong India & BangladeshRoute 2 Agartala Akhaura Chittagong g

Route 3 Silchar‐Sutarkandi‐Chittagong Port India & Bangladesh

Route 4 Silchar‐Sutarkandi‐Paturia Ferry ‐ India & BangladeshRoute 4 Silchar‐Sutarkandi‐Paturia Ferry ‐Benapole/Petrapole‐Kolkata

India & Bangladesh

Route 5 Samdrup Jonkhar (Bhutan) – Guwahati – Shillong – India, Bangladesh, Tamabil‐Sylhet‐Chittagong Bhutan

Route 6 Kathmandu‐Kakarvita/Phulbari‐Banglabandha‐Mongla/ Chittagong

Nepal, India & BangladeshMongla/ Chittagong Bangladesh

Route 7 Thimphu‐Phuentsholing‐ Jaigaon/Burimari‐Mongla/ Chittagong

Bhutan, India & BangladeshC ttago g a g ades

Route 5: Samdrup‐ Jonkhar(Bhutan) – Shillong‐ Sylhet‐Chittagong.

Route 6: Kathmandu‐Kakarvita/Banglabandha‐Mongla/ Chittagong

Route 7: Thimpu‐Phuentsholing/Jaigaon‐Burimari‐Mongla/Chittagong

Core rail based routes to support transitCore rail based routes to support transit.Route 1 Silchar-Mahisasan/Shahbazpur-Dhaka ICD (Dhirasram)- India and Bangladesh/ p ( )

Bangabandhu Bridge-Darsana/Gede-Kolkata

Route 2 Silchar- Mahisasan/Shahbazpur-Chittagong Port India and Bangladesh

Route 3 Agartala-Akhaura-Dhaka ICD (Dhirasram)- Darsana/ Gede-

Kolkata

India and Bangladesh

Kolkata

Route 4 Agartala- Akhaura – Chittagong Port India and Bangladesh

Route 5 Kolkata – Petrapole/Benapole – – Mongla port India and Bangladesh

Route 6 Birgunj-Raxual-Katihar-Singhabad/Rohanpur-Khulna-

M l P

Nepal and Bangladesh

Mongla Port

Route 7 Jagbani, Biratnagar-Radhikapur/Birol-Parbatipur-Khulna-

Mongla Port

Nepal and Bangladesh

Mongla Port

Rail Route 6: Birgunj‐ Raxual‐Singhabad‐Mongla

Rail Route 7: Jagbani‐ Radhikapur/ Khulna‐Mongla Port

Recommendations and our statusRecommendations and our status• Bangladesh has fully endorsed and complied by actively engaging itself in Regional cooperation initiatives and existing intergovernmentalinitiatives and existing intergovernmental  agreements.O i i b ildi i i i i f• Ongoing capacity building initiatives focuses on infrastructure projects for multimodal transport and logistic system

• Private sector contribution in infrastructure• Private sector contribution in infrastructure building and operation is increasing at a 

d tmoderate pace.

1 Bangladesh has tremendous potential1. Bangladesh has tremendous potentialto offer transit facilities to two of theSouth Asian LLDC’s, Nepal and Bhutan.

2. It can be on win‐win basis.

3. Huge investment gap exists, and needsg g p ,to be addressed to tap those potentials.

Number of investment projects are p junderway to bridge the gap. Identified fi i dfinancing modes are:1 Own Financing1. Own Financing2. Soft loan from bilateral/multilateral     financing windows3 Grants3. Grants4. FDI5. PPP