Bangladesh is emerging as the world's most captivating market for infrastructure and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), as it embarks on transport mega-projects aimed at efficient management and monitoring through ITS and Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Systems, reports BSS.
The country's inaugural ITS Project was initiated under the Roads and Highways Department last year.
The US$15 million ITS project, backed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), encompasses a 252-kilometre highway.
The implementation of this project is overseen by the Bangladeshi company NDE Infratech, founded by Riyad Husain and Rizwan Mustafiz.
On August 16, ITS International, a prominent UK-based media platform dedicated to the global intelligent transportation systems industry, featured a story on Bangladesh's infrastructure and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) with the headline, "Bangladesh - Perhaps the Most Exciting Infrastructure and ITS Market in the World".
James Foster, a contributing editor of the media platform, authored the story, stating, "The story of Bangladesh has been nothing short of a miracle, including ITS mega-projects and entrepreneurial flair."
The full story of James Foster is below:
After gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh was the second poorest nation in the world. It experienced poverty, natural disasters and even a famine in 1974.
Fast forward 50 years, to 2021 and the contrast couldn't be more astonishing. Bangladesh's GDP per capita has surpassed its South Asian neighbours - India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The country has experienced consistent economic growth over the past decade. Despite the Covid pandemic, its economy grew over six per cent per annum, one of the highest among all nations, during that period.
Bangladesh is now on a journey to becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2031 and a developed nation by 2041. With this growth in the economy came massive public sector spending. Over the past decade, infrastructure development in Bangladesh has been booming.
The government has recently completed building the 6.15 km Padma Bridge at a cost of US$3.6 billion, connecting the less developed southwest to the northern and eastern regions of the country. It is a construction marvel as it is the deepest bridge in the world, with piles installed as deep as 127 metres.
The first phase of the Dhaka Metro Rail, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has just opened its doors to the public.
This mass rapid transit system is estimated to serve more than 60,000 passengers per hour.
The Dhaka Elevated Expressway, which is opening soon under a Public Private Partnership model, is the longest elevated expressway of the country, running 46 km through Dhaka, the capital city.
Agencies such as Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, JICA, Korean Expressway Corporation are also closely involved with the development of Bangladesh's road safety and regulations on the national highways.
I got the opportunity to catch up with two dynamic entrepreneurs, who are working at the forefront of these exciting projects. Riyad Husain and Rizwan Mustafiz, both 40, completed their higher education in the UK and Canada respectively in the mid 2000s and returned to their country 15 years ago.
They are the founding partners of NDE Infratech, an exciting company working with a lot of energy and grit in Bangladesh's transportation technology sector.
