Team Korea Secures Priority Rights for $700 Million Bangladesh Power Distribution Project

Introduction of Smart Distribution Management System

Yoon Sung-won, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (left), and Sultana Afroz, Head of the Public-Private Partnership Authority of Bangladesh

Team Korea, composed of Korean companies including GS Engineering & Construction, has secured the priority business rights for a $700 million (approximately 840 billion KRW) power distribution project commissioned by the Bangladeshi government.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced at the 4th Korea-Bangladesh Investment Development Project Joint Consultative Body held at the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND) in Yeouido, Seoul, that both countries agreed on the promotion plan for the construction and operation of the power distribution lines in the Purbachal New Town in Bangladesh.

The meeting was attended by Yoon Sung-won, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Sultana Afroz, Chairperson of the Bangladesh Public-Private Partnership Authority, reaffirming the cooperative will of both countries.

This project involves introducing a "smart power distribution management system" that reduces distribution losses and minimizes blackout times to provide stable electricity supply in Purbachal New Town, located 15 km northeast of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Among the total four-phase project plan, phases 1 and 2 involving land development are currently underway, and Korean companies plan to participate in phases 3 (scheduled for completion in 2037) and 4 (scheduled for completion in 2042), when full-scale development will take place.

Based on the priority business rights secured at this joint consultative body, Team Korea plans to conduct feasibility studies and establish an optimized public-private partnership (PPP) model to negotiate specific business conditions with the Bangladeshi government.

A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official stated, "GS Engineering & Construction is preparing to participate in the Purbachal New Town power distribution project, and other domestic companies are expected to join as the project develops and becomes more concrete."

According to the Ministry, KIND has facilitated agreements through the Korea-Bangladesh joint consultative body, established in 2019, allowing Korean companies to secure priority business rights for a total of four projects worth $10.2 billion (approximately 12.3 trillion KRW) to date.

In 2020 alone, priority business rights were secured for three projects: the Dhaka-Mymensingh Expressway ($500 million), Dhaka Circular Railway ($8.5 billion), and 400kV transmission lines ($200 million). Last year, priority business rights were also obtained for the $1 billion Meghna Bridge project.

The Meghna Bridge project has already completed its feasibility study, while feasibility studies for the Dhaka-Mymensingh Expressway and Dhaka Circular Railway projects are currently underway.

Lee Kang-hoon, President of KIND, said, "We will fulfill our role to ensure that our companies can establish a stable order base through discovering new projects and acquiring additional priority business rights."

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