12 April 2009

Japan Provided Assistance to Bangladesh for Portable Steel Bridges

     On April 12, 2009, His Excellency Mr. Masayuki Inoue formally inaugurated Portable Steel Bridges as Chief Guest. The inauguration ceremony was held at LGED building at Agargaon, Dhaka. Establishment of these Portable Steel Bridges aims at developing physical infrastructure in order to improve communication backbone of the country. After the ceremony, the Ambassador visited the RDEC (Phase- II) and witnessed its activities. Mr. Md. Wahidur Rahman, the Chief Engineer of LGED gave a briefing on the centre.

     The project was implemented through joint collaboration between the Government of Japan and the Government of Bangladesh. Japan provided 1.973 billion Yen assistance for constructing the surface part of the bridge and Bangladesh spent 2.041 billion Yen for constructing the pillar of the bridge. The complete project was executed in three phases. During Phase-I (1994-1996) total 74 bridges were constructed, in Phase-II (2000-2003) total 80 bridges were constructed and in Phase-III (2005-2009) total 92 bridges have been constructed in the central and eastern region of Bangladesh.

      Japan has been providing grant aid and loan program in different sectors of Bangladesh since 1973. Construction of these Portable Steel Bridges will not only generate domestic economic growth but it will also enhance more foreign investment in the country. Moreover, this will strengthen the eternal friendship between these two countries besides benefiting the farmers, students, workers and overall poor rural people of Bangladesh.