The government today signed separate deals with Japan on six projects, including one for construction of a 4.8-km rail bridge over the Jamuna River in parallel with Bangabandhu Bridge.

The Jamuna Railway Bridge Construction Project is aimed to improve capacity and safety of railway transportation by constructing a dedicated railway bridge in 300m upstream of the existing Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge (Bangabandhu Bridge).

The five other projects are: Cross-Border Road Network Improvement Project (Bangladesh), Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (II), Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project II, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Promotion Financing Project and Disaster Risk Management Enhancement Project.

Under the deals Bangladesh will receive 3.53 billion yen equal to Tk 12,819 crore from Japan.

BSS news agency reports Additional Secretary of Economic Relations Division (ERD) Kazi Shafiqul Azam and Japanese Envoy to Bangladesh Masato Watanabe signed the exchange of notes on behalf of their respective sides while ERD Additional Secretary Kazi Shafiqul Azam and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Chief Representative Mikio Hataeda will initial the loan agreements at NEC conference room in the city.

State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan was the chief guest at the signing ceremony of the agreement under which the Japan government will provide the loan through its Official Development Assistance (ODA) package.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the Cross-Border Road Network Improvement Project (Bangladesh) on April 26, 2016 to improve cross border road network aiming at boosting across regional and sub-regional blocks.

The objective of the project is to improve national and regional transportation and logistics network, by rehabilitating and developing major international roads in Bangladesh, thereby contributing to economic growth of Bangladesh and South Asia.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina officially inaugurated the construction work of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Development project Sunday at Dhaka's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

The MRT project will be constructed under the supervision of Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Company. The project is being executed at a cost of about Taka 22,000 crore. Of the amount, the JICA is providing about Taka 16,500 crore, while the remaining amount would come from the Government of Bangladesh (GoB).

The objective of the Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project is to achieve the stable electricity supply in Bangladesh by constructing a coal fired power plant and related facilities in Chittagong region, thereby contributing to sustainable economic growth of Bangladesh.

The objective of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Promotion Financing Project is to promote efficient use of energy in Bangladesh by introducing and disseminating energy efficient equipment through concessional loan, technical support, incorporating latest technical trends of energy efficiency, creating awareness thereby contributing to balance energy demand-supply and mitigate climate change.

 

Source :thereport24