BD in talks with China on four mega projects

[ghost250]

BD in talks with China on four mega projects

Bangladesh is now in discussion with China for implementation of four new mega projects in the country with Chinese funding.These projects, involving several billion dollars, are considered very important for the infrastructural development of Bangladesh, officials told the FE.The projects are...

today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Bangladesh is now in discussion with China for implementation of four new mega projects in the country with Chinese funding.

These projects, involving several billion dollars, are considered very important for the infrastructural development of Bangladesh, officials told the FE.

The projects are East West elevated expressway project, High-speed railway project, 5G Mobile network project, and Satellite project.

Among the projects, China assured to consider funding Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway project, involving over US$ 2.0 billion. The Bangladesh Bridge Authority is the implementing agency of the project.

It will be the largest expressway with a length of 45 kilometres, connecting the eastern regions like Chittagong and Sylhet to the eastern regions including Rajshahi and Khulna, bypassing the capital.

The expressway will be connected to four important highways of the country, including Padma Bridge. The project will open the way to cross from one end of the country to its other end without entering the capital, officials of the Bridges Division said.

According to feasibility study of the project, implementation of the mega project will significantly reduce traffic congestion as well as improve transportation and communications in Savar, Ashulia, Nabinagar and Savar EPZ areas.

The route alignment of the proposed expressway is Hemayetpur-Nimtoli- Keraniganj-Ekuria-Janzira-Fatullah-Hajiganj Bandar-Modonpur on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.

Bangladesh recently requested China to finance the project, as it is 'very important'. China informed Bangladesh that it has enough expertise to build such expressway.

However, the mode of financing for implementing the project is not yet decided, sources in the Ministry of Finance said. The project may be implemented through public private partnership (PPP) or build-operate-transfer (BOT) system, China opined.

The country has also shown serious interest in the Dhaka-Chittagong high-speed railway, 5G mobile, and satellite projects, officials of the ministries concerned said.

Bangladesh Railway has already initiated the $11-billion Dhaka-Chittagong High Speed Railway Project, the largest-ever infrastructure project in terms of spending.

Recently, a Chinese company - China Railway Design Corporation - has completed initial work for designing the project as consultant of a local firm.

According to the plan, high-speed trains with an average speed of 300 km per hour will carry around 50,000 passengers daily on Dhaka-Chittagong route.

The rail-track will run along with the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, which will reduce length of the track by 90 kilometres to 227.3 kilometres.

If the project is implemented, the journey time between Dhaka and Chittagong will be 56 minutes only. If the trains would stop at four points, the time will be 73 minutes, project officials added.

China also requested Bangladesh to consider PPP financing, commercial loans, and investments from Chinese side, apart from soft loans, while implementing the project.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology is in talks with the Chinese side regarding its proposals on the 5G mobile and satellite projects, officials said.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has a plan to launch 5G mobile service in the country soon.


mirmostafiz@yahoo.com

https://www.facebook.com/mofadhaka/photos/a.170172523723330/871835536890355

so our next satellite could be sent by china??!!dada der dour jhap,kanna kati shuru hoilo boila!!

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

For Chinese, it would be great if we could build Bangladesh into the Singapore of South Asia. Bangladesh has a ton of potential for China and has always been a loyal friend. For Bangladesh, China has more to offer, including sea reclamation, desaliation and renewable energy projects.

It is important for Bangladesh to obtain energy independence as well, since Bangladesh still need to import energy and even oil for electrical generation. At some point it would be prudent for Bangladesh to start importing Chinese renewables or become a manufacturing center for Chinese renewables, which would also speed up Bangladesh's industrial development.

 

[DalalErMaNodi]

The East West elevated expressway is a big, big project that will have a massive impact on the Economy of Bangladesh... In essence currently any one travelling from Chittagong to northern Bangladesh has to go through Dhaka, wasting time and countless man hours as well as delaying product shipments to the port.



This elevated expressway will eliminate all of that.

High speed railway between Dhaka - Chittagong is a nice to have but I wouldn't say it's essential but come 2030, we may need it, so might as well start the construction now.


Satellite is also okay, I mean I'm no expert so I can't comment on this but more satellites is always a good think for Comms and connectivity.






But why the hell are going for 5G ? We don't have any IoT or internet of things companies in Bangladesh, or Artificial intelligence companies, why exactly do we need 5G spectrum rollout ?





Anyways, China always proves to be a good strategic and developmental partner of Bangladesh, while India gifts us dogs and horses.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

The East West elevated expressway is a big, big project that will have a massive impact on the Economy of Bangladesh... In essence currently any one travelling from Chittagong to northern Bangladesh has to go through Dhaka, wasting time and countless man hours as well as delaying product shipments to the port.

This elevated expressway will eliminate all of that.

High speed railway between Dhaka - Chittagong is a nice to have but I wouldn't say it's essential but come 2030, we may need it, so might as well start the construction now.

Satellite is also okay, I mean I'm no expert so I can't comment on this but more satellites is always a good think for Comms and connectivity.

But why the hell are going for 5G ? We don't have any IoT or internet of things companies in Bangladesh, or Artificial intelligence companies, why exactly do we need 5G spectrum rollout ?

Anyways, China always proves to be a good strategic and developmental partner of Bangladesh, while India gifts us dogs and horses.

Development isn't always linear. You don't necessarily need to be a leader in gas cars to be a leader in electric cars, for example. Look at how Toyota and Honda are unable to electrify and being beat by Tesla, NIO and Xpeng. Look at how Japan is stagnant by being good at 1980's technologies while being surpassed in everything else, and how they don't have any software, mobile or advanced node semiconductor companies.

Just because you don't have IoT or AI now in Bangladesh, doesn't mean that 5G is useless. Without 5G, who will start investing or implementing those in Bangladesh? Or even buying 5G enabled infrastructure i.e. smart traffic controls? IoT is more prevalent than you think. Even just the consumer aspect of 5G enables things like ubiquitous computing - mobile payments, real time mobile video, self driving cars, etc.

Satellites for an independent Bangladeshi space imaging capability are also important. Bangladesh has land precariously threatened by ocean - how do you measure exactly how much land is gained or lost, without imaging satellites? You can buy from India, but will India sell you real data? And since you are going to need it every year, will you keep paying them? Or just own your own satellite?

 

[atan651]

China is involved and funding so many mega projects in Bangladesh. Will this become a debt trap situation?

 

[DalalErMaNodi]

China is involved and funding so many mega projects in Bangladesh. Will this become a debt trap situation?

NO. Bangladesh has a healthy economy with a very comfortable Debt to Gdp ratio of 29%. This fiscal "headroom" is religiously maintained by the government and they never let it get out of hand, Its been stable in the 20s for over a decade now.


Meanwhile countries in this "Debt Trap" like Sri Lanka have a minute economy and a Debt-GDP ratio of 87%.

Pakistan on the other hand has a Debt-GDP ratio of 84%.




Bangladesh has some of the lowest Debt-GDP values in all of asia, 13th from the bottom to be exact.

 

[SpaceMan18]

Development isn't always linear. You don't necessarily need to be a leader in gas cars to be a leader in electric cars, for example. Look at how Toyota and Honda are unable to electrify and being beat by Tesla, NIO and Xpeng. Look at how Japan is stagnant by being good at 1980's technologies while being surpassed in everything else, and how they don't have any software, mobile or advanced node semiconductor companies.

Just because you don't have IoT or AI now in Bangladesh, doesn't mean that 5G is useless. Without 5G, who will start investing or implementing those in Bangladesh? Or even buying 5G enabled infrastructure i.e. smart traffic controls? IoT is more prevalent than you think. Even just the consumer aspect of 5G enables things like ubiquitous computing - mobile payments, real time mobile video, self driving cars, etc.

Satellites for an independent Bangladeshi space imaging capability are also important. Bangladesh has land precariously threatened by ocean - how do you measure exactly how much land is gained or lost, without imaging satellites? You can buy from India, but will India sell you real data? And since you are going to need it every year, will you keep paying them? Or just own your own satellite?

I wonder if China can help us estalblish our first satellite fabrication technology and teach our students on rocket science to make our own space launch vehicles ?

We are going to work on building our own satellites in 1-2 years from now so I wonder if China can help since they are working with us in the aerospace field

Something like the Atlas 5 or Long March 3 launch vehicle would be a perfect expendable launch vehicle for us.

Again we can reverse engineer current rocket engines

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

I wonder if China can help us estalblish our first satellite fabrication technology and teach our students on rocket science to make our own space launch vehicles ?

We are going to work on building our own satellites in 1-2 years from now so I wonder if China can help since they are working with us in the aerospace field

Something like the Atlas 5 or Long March 3 launch vehicle would be a perfect expendable launch vehicle for us.

Again we can reverse engineer current rocket engines

The problem with satellite tech is that it builds on every other tech. For example, the circuit boards inside satellites must be a special type of circuit board that is vacuum stable, thermally stable under vast swings in temperature and vibration tolerant. But if you don't make regular circuit boards how do you make specialized circuit boards? Assembly of satellites is done in cleanrooms. But if you don't have commercial semiconductor cleanrooms where do you get the big cleanrooms for satellites?

Realistically, Bangladesh need to upgrade its industrial base as a whole. This is what Bangladeshi exports look like right now, it is too heavily based on low end industry like textiles. If I were industry minister of Bangladesh, my #1 goal would be to attract FDI in mid-tier industries like electronics assembly and simple machining, as well as targetted FDI high-tier industry like renewable energy and domestic software.

On the infrastructure side the Dhaka-Chittagong expressway and high speed rail are done right, as well as the Chittagong deep water port. Before those are finished, 100% electrification should be done, with oil imports used for electrical generation phased out to reduce dependence on foreign imports. Bangladesh has high natural gas reserves, so every effort should be made to full electrification and use of gas in generation, with nuclear and solar being backups. Bangladesh can skip the gas automotive stage and go directly to electrical as Bangladesh's economy rises to ~5000 USD GDP/capita in the next 10-15 years.

 

[SpaceMan18]

The problem with satellite tech is that it builds on every other tech. For example, the circuit boards inside satellites must be a special type of circuit board that is vacuum stable, thermally stable under vast swings in temperature and vibration tolerant. But if you don't make regular circuit boards how do you make specialized circuit boards? Assembly of satellites is done in cleanrooms. But if you don't have commercial semiconductor cleanrooms where do you get the big cleanrooms for satellites?

Realistically, Bangladesh need to upgrade its industrial base as a whole. This is what Bangladeshi exports look like right now, it is too heavily based on low end industry like textiles. If I were industry minister of Bangladesh, my #1 goal would be to attract FDI in mid-tier industries like electronics assembly and simple machining, as well as targetted FDI high-tier industry like renewable energy and domestic software.

On the infrastructure side the Dhaka-Chittagong expressway and high speed rail are done right, as well as the Chittagong deep water port. Before those are finished, 100% electrification should be done, with oil imports used for electrical generation phased out to reduce dependence on foreign imports. Bangladesh has high natural gas reserves, so every effort should be made to full electrification and use of gas in generation, with nuclear and solar being backups. Bangladesh can skip the gas automotive stage and go directly to electrical as Bangladesh's economy rises to ~5000 USD GDP/capita in the next 10-15 years.

Sure I agree , we are definitely getting more FDI for sure and for electronic components we have a private company Walton who if they got enough money can become a major electronics maker or basically the LG of Bangladesh.

Japan,America,Korean and China is helping us move away from textiles to eventually electronics and automobiles.

We are cutting taxation and corruption for more FDI , China or anyone else

 

[SBUS-CXK]

China is involved and funding so many mega projects in Bangladesh. Will this become a debt trap situation?

bro don't worry. the yankees owe us 2 trillion USD. the US is in the debt trap.

 

[Landmine]

The East West elevated expressway is a big, big project that will have a massive impact on the Economy of Bangladesh... In essence currently any one travelling from Chittagong to northern Bangladesh has to go through Dhaka, wasting time and countless man hours as well as delaying product shipments to the port.

I couldn't agree more with you regarding this fact. During the pre-feasibility project of the East-West Elevated expressway (AKA Dhaka Middle ring road in the revised-STP), we have found a promising traffic generation forecast (~ 25,000 veh/day) on the new proposed corridor which was impressive in terms of economical outcome (Since BBA were planning to have it as a toll route). Besides, during the field visit, we found that the south and south-west skirts of Dhaka were significantly under-developed, even though those areas had a lot of potentials. IMO, GOB should first track such a project. When the Padma bridge will finish, it will create a huge bottle-neck at the exit-entry point of Dhaka (you already mentioned the reason). We would not be able to utilize the full potential of the Padma bridge if we cannot divert the thought-though traffic from Dhaka. A photo of the proposed alignment is attached here for reference.

 

[fallstuff]

Expressways and HST are no longer nice to haves, these should be implemented ASAP.

 

[Michael Corleone]

bro don't worry. the yankees owe us 2 trillion USD. the US is in the debt trap.

Yeah hilarious. Keep buying their govt bond. When they refuse to pay up, war is inevitable and they would lose

 

[mb444]

5G

The East West elevated expressway is a big, big project that will have a massive impact on the Economy of Bangladesh... In essence currently any one travelling from Chittagong to northern Bangladesh has to go through Dhaka, wasting time and countless man hours as well as delaying product shipments to the port.



This elevated expressway will eliminate all of that.

High speed railway between Dhaka - Chittagong is a nice to have but I wouldn't say it's essential but come 2030, we may need it, so might as well start the construction now.


Satellite is also okay, I mean I'm no expert so I can't comment on this but more satellites is always a good think for Comms and connectivity.






But why the hell are going for 5G ? We don't have any IoT or internet of things companies in Bangladesh, or Artificial intelligence companies, why exactly do we need 5G spectrum rollout ?





Anyways, China always proves to be a good strategic and developmental partner of Bangladesh, while India gifts us dogs and horses.

5g is not only about IoT and AI or automotion needs far greater speed than 5g to be of any real use....

However importance of 5g can not be understated..... in a post corona world i see schools collages providing education over the net. I see doctors/solicitors/accountants/banking/tax and other government services all getting delivered remotely but also with a personal touch.

Where it comes to communication we must never delay.... always be there at the forefront....the dividends are always greater than the investment.

 

[Norwegian]

bro don't worry. the yankees owe us 2 trillion USD. the US is in the debt trap.

No you don't. You are only funding their worthless global currency to the extreme