Dhaka, Yangon sign deal on road link

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FE Report
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement Friday to build a cross-border friendship road that will subsequently link Bangladesh with the Chinese spring city Kunming as well as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore by land route.
Communications adviser Major General (Rtd) M A Matin and Myanmar minister for construction Major General Saw Tun, who arrived in Dhaka Thursday, inked the deal on behalf of the respective governments at the communication ministry.
"We will start constructing the cross-border road soon. The main goal of the friendship road is to connect Bangladesh with the Asian Highway network," M A Matin told newsmen after the signing ceremony.
"Cross-border smuggling will consequently come down after the construction of the road," the adviser said.
But they could not spell out exactly when the construction of 25-km road would start as both the parties needed further consultations related to other formalities including inviting tender for the project.
According to the agreement, Bangladesh will bear Tk 4.14 billion (Tk 141 crore) as construction cost for the 25-km road which entails 2-km inside Bangladesh territory and 23-km in Myanmar. The proposed road will be from Gundum in Cox's Bazar to Bawli Bazar in Myanmar.
The remaining 110 km Yangon link road will, however, be taken up in the second phase, according to sources.
The deal was signed after four years' of negotiations between the two countries.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was earlier signed with Myanmar during former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's visit to Yangon.
About the tri-nation road connectivity involving Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, the Myanmar Construction Minister said the issue would depend on the future negotiation with Chinese authorities.
"We already discussed the matter with Chinese government and got positive response from them," Matin added.
The advisor said a car rally will be held in March next year among the countries of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar. The rally will start from Myanmar when the issue of tri-nation road link could be raised to the Chinese authorities.