Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Secures Priority Project Rights for Bangladesh Meghna Bridge

(Data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The government announced on the 12th that it has secured the priority project rights for the Meghna Bridge construction project in Bangladesh through consultations with the Bangladeshi government.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the two governments held a joint consultative body for infrastructure development between the two countries through a webinar, an online seminar, and decided on this matter.

The Meghna Bridge construction project involves building a total 24 km long bridge connecting the Meghna River in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. A consortium consisting of the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND), Daewoo Engineering & Construction, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and Korea Expressway Corporation plans to carry out the project.

The joint consultative body between the two countries was formed when KIND and the Bangladesh Public-Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) signed a memorandum of understanding in April last year to promote Bangladeshi infrastructure development quickly and effectively.

Since then, in January, domestic companies secured priority project rights for three projects including the Dhaka Circular Railway, and through this meeting, they also won the $1 billion Meghna Bridge project.

The Meghna Bridge project is a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) project, where the Korean side, having secured the priority project rights, will independently proceed with project development and will be responsible for overall design, construction, financing, and operation after contracting with the Bangladeshi side.

The joint consultative body for infrastructure development between the two countries was held in a webinar format due to the COVID-19 situation. On the Korean side, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyunmi attended as the representative, and on the Bangladeshi side, Salman Fazlur Rahman, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, attended as the representative.

The government plans to immediately start the feasibility study, the first phase of the project, to concretize project development.

Park Jaesoon, Director of the Overseas Construction Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "The Bangladeshi government wants to cooperate with our government to promote infrastructure development, which is the backbone of national economic growth, quickly and effectively," adding, "We will expand the investment development project model based on cooperation between the two governments for our overseas infrastructure advancement in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.