Ctg to be linked to BCIM Corridor

CHITTAGONG, Mar 25: The port city of Chittagong would be linked to the BCIM Economic Corridor stretching from Kolkata to Kunming.
Disclosing this here on Tuesday, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shariar Alam MP said Bangladesh would extend transit facilities to India once it gains the capability like completion of the four-lane highway project and development in different sectors including traffic management.
Emphasising on global connectivity, the Minister said due to expansion in economic relations, growth of regional countries grouped under the BCIM has resulted in the success of the Kolkata-Kunming Initiative.
If the BCIM (Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar) Economic Corridor is implemented, economies of the region will experience a robust growth. A meeting to this end was held last year and the next meeting is scheduled for June next.
The State Minister was addressing as chief guest a seminar on 'BCIM Economic Corridor' jointly organised by the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and the Institute of Governance Studies (IGS) and the BRAC University at a hotel in the city on Tuesday.
Chaired by CCCI President Mahbubul Alam, the seminar was addressed by Ambassador of China in Bangladesh LI Jun and Deputy High Commissioner of India Sandeep Chakravorty as guests of honour while senior vice president of the CCCI Nurun Newaz Selim and vice president Syed Jamal Ahmed also spoke.
Assistant High Commissioner of India in Chittagong Somnath Halder, China Kunming Opening - Asia Transportation Logistics Research Institute's  researcher Liu Jinxin, Bangladesh-Myanmar Business Promotion Council Chairman Syed Mahmudul Huq, former director of CCCI Dr Moinul Islam Mahmud and deputy director of the China Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences in the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Lei Zhuning addressed the seminar as penal discussants while the key-note speech was presented by Professor Shahidul Islam of the BRAC University.
Referring to gas connections, the State Minister said that Myanmar had proposed in 2005 to supply gas to Bangladesh via India. But the four-party alliance government then in power did not accept the proposal. And now, as India and Bangladesh have jointly proposed to Myanmar for connection of gas line, they did not respond.
The Chinese Ambassador said the BCIM countries had been connected by ancient Southern Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road 2000 years ago. Such links via the Silk Road made exchanges of goods, know-how, people and ideas possible, promoted economic, cultural and social progress in this region, facilitated dialogue and integration of different civilisations, and left behind brilliant pages in the human history.
The Silk Road has become a symbol of peace, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning and resilience. And the initiative of the BCIM-EC is encouraged by the legacy of ancient Silk Road, he pointed out.
The priorities of the BCIM-EC should focus on, among other things, regional connectivity, including transportation, telecommunication, and power and energy, trade and investment, sustainable development and people-to-people exchange, he added.
India's Deputy High Commissioner Sandeep Chakravorty termed communication as the major problem. He emphasised on road, rail and maritime communication in light of bilateral agreements to make the four-nation economic corridor a success.
Chairman of Bangladesh-Myanmar Business Promotion Council Syed Mahmudul Huq said Chittagong has been bypassed while drawing up the road line of Asia as well as the rail line in the Trans-Asian Railway.