Bangladesh has gradually been readying its physical infrastructure for establishing connectivity with its neighbouring countries for the last 50 years but experts are still sceptical of a win-win situation.
Academicians and think-tanks see a lack of integrated development plans of necessary infrastructure among neighbours.
Trade and non-trade barriers still remain a big challenge for the country before reaping the benefits of regional connectivity with India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and others, they observed.
Competition among these countries, mainly India and Myanmar, to develop new ports and allied facilities in their respective territories other than linking with Bangladesh's corridor may weaken the strength of some of the corridors and ports being developed here.
According to officials, road transport and bridges, shipping and railways ministries have made good progress in developing corridors to facilitate regional trade and people-to-people contact.
They said corridors through Banglabandha, Benapole, Burimari, Tamabil and Akhaura were developed mainly under the Asian Highway (AH) 1, 2 and 41 after a feasibility study on more than 1,700 kilometres of communication arteries of the country in 2015.
Countrywide road infrastructure development has also been planned as part of regional corridors under SAARC, SASEC, BCIM and BIMSTEC.
A sub-regional corridor under BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) is now under discussion. If built, it will help ensure seamless
movement of vehicles in four South Asian countries, according to the officials.
Burimari and Banglabandha corridors were developed to facilitate trade with Nepal and Bhutan through Mongla port.
Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil, Ashulia-Sorail-Brahmanbaria-Dharkha-Akhaura and Bariarhat-Ramgarh highways are being developed to link Tripura, Assam and Mizoram with Chittagong port.
Although most parts of the corridors are yet to meet the Asian Highway standards, the officials said people already started using them with the launch of bus and train services.
"Actually, connectivity is a big issue. A lot of initiatives have already been taken, giving due importance to developing the country's road network," said a high official involved in road planning.
He said the opening of Feni Bridge became a milestone in the Indo-Bangla bilateral connectivity.
However, sources said many routes being developed inside the country were unlikely to be part of regional connectivity due to changes in the route plan on the other side of the border.
Under the AH 41, Bangladesh's plan to develop a corridor from Chattogram to Gundum through Cox's Bazar would not help facilitate any regional connectivity as the government of Myanmar is reluctant to develop the road on the other side of Gundum.
Despite signing of an agreement with Myanmar in 2004 and 2007 to develop a 120-km route on the other side of Bangladesh border, sources said neither the military junta nor the Sui Kyi government developed it. Rather, a trilateral highway is now being developed connecting India and Thailand on both sides.
Due to such change, the road transport and bridges ministry is now studying the option to explore another avenue for establishing links with the 160-km road known as India-Myanmar friendship road linking Imphal, Mandalay and Bangkok.
Under bilateral arrangement, Bangladesh and India resumed Dhaka-Kolkata direct passenger train service in 2008 and Khulna-Kolkata train service in 2018.
A trial cargo movement with Nepal through Rohonpur-Shinhabad rail route also took place on February 8 this year under a transit agreement and protocol in 1976.
It is expected that the resumption of train service through New Shiliguri of India would also facilitate passenger and cargo movement with Nepal. Though Bangladesh and Bhutan have not yet established any road and rail connectivity under formal agreement, the two governments signed preferential trade agreement to provide duty-free benefits to 100 export items.
To facilitate connectivity, two more ports of call--Biratnagar and Birgunj through Rohonpur-Singabad-Jogbani and Rohonpur Biral-Radhikapur--have been included in the transit agreement recently, totalling 11.
Under the agreement signed on Inland Water Transit and Trade in 1976, a trial transit facility had already been launched in July 2020 when India sent a cargo from Kolkata to Agartola.
With all these developments, experts said, the scope of the country's connectivity remained at bilateral and sub-regional levels.
The country was yet to take advantage of the value chain in broader regional blocs by establishing links with South East Asia or East Asia, they added.
After successful trial run of car rally under BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar) in March 2013, they said no progress had been visible in establishing the corridor due to India-China strained relations.
The BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement signed in June 2015 among the MoRTB and ministries concerned of Bhutan, India and Nepal has also been shelved despite trial run of both passenger vehicle and cargo.
Commenting on all these developments, Research Director of Centre for Policy Dialogue Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem said, "With bilateral arrangement, good progress is visible in road, rail and inland waterways even in coastal area, but most of them could not be functional yet."
He said more development in hard infrastructure is visible than soft infrastructure like logistic, customs facility, multimodal communication. "The country's development in connectivity is still limited at bilateral and sub-regional level."
"We cannot go beyond the region which is important to add the country to the value chain supply system to reap the benefits of connectivity," he said stressing the need for making the connectivity fully functional.
Putting emphasis on integrated plans among the countries to make the corridor effective, he said competition has been visible in India and Myanmar and SAARC member countries to develop new port facilities including deep-sea ports to facilitate Nepal and Bhutan.
Even Bangladesh is invited to use Bishakha deep-sea port apart from Haldia and Kolkata ports, he added.
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