Kaladan News

Date: Tuesday, May 05, 2004

Why Bangladesh choose ‘Look East’ Policy?

Chittagong, May 05: It is the manifestation of the "Look East Policy" of the Bangladesh government and must be given its due to priority if Bangladesh really wants to come out of the choking economic stranglehold of its huge western neighbor, according to Mr. Ali, a reporter from Dhaka.

The new " Burma Road" is the road to the future of Bangladesh. Raw materials from China, Thailand etc. come by sea via Singapore or other intermediate ports where transshipment and its related costs are involved. In addition, to being slow and time consuming.

Direct access to ASEAN via Burma will allow Bangladeshi manufactures to offer their customers better delivery schedules based on faster access to cheaper but better quality raw materials from the east.

It is therefore of vital national interest that Bangladesh was a direct road to ASEAN region and it also makes good common sense because ESCAP/ADP- proposed road via northeast India will add a thousand kilometers to the otherwise direct road via Burma.

On the flip side, the new Burma Road to the ASEAN region through Bangladesh will open up new commercial opportunities. The road that India is building via its northeastern territories is a long and difficult ride through some of the most difficult terrain in the world. Travelling on it will be time consuming and uneconomical compared to the one through Ramu (Bangladesh).

The proposed 91km cross-border Highway would be built from Ramu of Chittagong to Buthidaung in Arakan State at an estimated cost of about Tk. 400 crore (US$ 66.6 million).

Burma, Thailand and India have conducted a survey in New Delhi on December 2003 for the construction of a 1,360 km long Highway connecting the three countries to expand trade, tourism and people-to- people contact.

Bangladesh should be able to en-cash on the bonanza the new road will offer to Indian businessmen trading with ASEAN region. In fact, the volume of the traffic that is likely to be generated from ASEAN- India trade may well justify a major new road connection Khulna to Chittagong via Laxmipur (India).

Whatever ESCAP or ADP may say, the economic potential of the new Burma Road via Ramu is much better than the one they planned via the Indian northeast. This new road will also give Bangladesh the leverage needed to demand direct road access to markets in Nepal and Bhutan.

Bangladesh has been unable to exploit the goodwill that its products enjoy in Nepal and Buthan because India does not allow Bangladeshi trucks to go to these countries. Bangladesh goods have to be transferred to Indian Trucks at the frontier crossing and certain taxes are also payable although these goods are not for consumption in India.

Therefore, there is no reason to believe that if the road from Bangladesh to the east leads via India, Bangladesh trucks and goods will be able to travel on it.

Towards "Look East" policy, the Roads and Highway (RHD) of Bangladesh has almost finalized the decision to build a bridge over the Karnapuli River in Bangladesh with concrete pillars. ##

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