Bangladesh and South Korea have fixed a timeframe for finalising the projects to be implemented under government-to-government (g-2-g) public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements by next three months.
Sources said the timeframe has been set with a target of preparing at least one project through carrying out necessary groundwork by February as the Joint PPP Platform between Bangladesh and South Korea had already worked for nearly 16 months.
"The PPP Authority wants to make ready at least one project under the Bangladesh-Korea joint platform so that it begins during Mujib year," said an official of PPPA.
According to the PPPA, the Korean side earlier selected 10 out of 14 projects which were placed at the first joint PPP platform meeting held on July 18 and 19, 2019.
But the 2nd platform meeting held on January 19, 2020 discussed three projects following approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
The 3rd joint PPP platform meeting, however, ended without any significant progress in these projects due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The PPPA and the Korean Overseas Infrastructure and Urban Development Cooperation (KIND) jointly organised a virtual platform meeting which was chaired by Chief Executive Officer of PPPA Sultana Afroz.
PM's private industry and investment adviser Salman F Rahman took part in it as the chief guest. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Ahmad Kaikaus and South Korea's minister for Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyan-mee also participated in the virtual meeting.
Bangladesh ambassador to South Korea Abida Islam and South Korean ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang Keun were present apart from officials concerned of all relevant ministries and agencies including Bangladesh Bridge Authority, Bangladesh Railway and Daewoo Engineering.
When contacted, the Bangladesh ambassador to Korea told the FE over phone that the Covid-19 situation has delayed the process of selecting the projects under PPP arrangements and its progress.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Korean side as well as the Bangladesh side could not work, she said.
The envoy also said the Korean consortium formed by the country's government has high hope about Bangladesh's projects in the pipeline and shown interest in investment which may make a good progress in the upcoming months.
As the meeting observed no such progress in the selected projects, it placed three more new projects for the consideration of Korean investors. The PPPA also proposed the Korean side to place more projects for the country's investors in the sectors like tourism, textile and jute upon their interest.
Bangladesh Bridge Authority has placed two projects for constructing the Meghna Bridge connecting Bhulta and Araihazar and Bancharampur and a subway from Tongi to Jinjira through Sadarghat. Both projects are at initial stage.
But the Korean side has shown interest in Purbachal Residential Model Town project through investment in Purbachal Town electricity distribution network and development of the Oboshor-Senior citizen healthcare and hospitality centre.
Three projects selected earlier are Dhaka Circular Railway, Matarbari-Madunaghat 400-kv transmission line and improvement of Dhaka-Mymensingh road into expressway. But sources said Matarbari-Madunaghat transmission line project has been held up as the implementing agency is now working to increase the transmission capacity.
The PPPA has been working on drawing investment under a policy through G-2-G arrangements based on strong bilateral relationships with the countries since 2018. So far, the platform has been formed with Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Dubai.
Under this policy, Bangladesh-Japan Platform has made progress in working on five projects including Kamalapur Multimodal Transport Hub.
smunima@yahoo.com