WB approves $500-mn for cross country road projects

The World Bank has approved $500 million to build road connectivity along the Jashore-Jhenaidah corridor directly connecting Dhaka in Bangladesh with India and Bhutan. WB Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, Mercy Tembon, informed that the project will unlock the region's potential by stimulating the economy of districts, linking farms to markets and connecting Dhaka with the western region as well as with the neighbouring countries, thus enhancing trade, transit and logistics along the corridor. It will also support the Bangladesh government's plan of developing a 260 km economic corridor in the western part and benefitting over 20 million masses. The Western Economic Corridor and the Regional Enhancement (WeCARE) Phase I project is the first of a multi-phased $1.4 billion World Bank program to upgrade the existing 110 km two-lane highway, Bhomra-Satkhira-Navaron and Jashore-Jhenaidah, to a safer and climate-resilient four-lane highway in western Bangladesh. The World Bank is among the first development partners to support Bangladesh following its independence, and the country has one of the largest IDA program worth over $13 billion. Since independence, the World Bank has committed more than $31 billion in grants, interest-free, and concessional credits to the country. The first phase of the program will upgrade 48 km of the N7 highway between Jashore and Jhenaidah and will improve about 600 km connecting rural roads and 32 rural markets and the growth centres to stimulate the local economy, as the credit has a 34-year term, including a four-year grace period.