Bangladesh Regional Connectivity Project 1

The development objective of the First Regional Connectivity Project for Bangladesh is to improve conditions for trade through improving connectivity, reducing logistics bottlenecks and supporting the adoption of modern approaches to border management and trade facilitation. The project has three components. 1) Invest in infrastructure, systems and procedures to modernize key selected land ports essential fortrade with India, Bhutan and Nepal will finance key development and improvement works at four land ports along the Southwest to Northeast Corridor that are key to facilitating regional and transit trade; 2) enhance trade sector coordination and economic empowerment and opportunities in trade for women will pilot activities to help address barriers to women becoming more integrated into regional and global supply chains and trading opportunities. Pilots are expected to be launched in the first two years of project implementation; This component includes three sub-components: (i) develop (pilot) programs to support female traders and entrepreneurs; (ii) capacity development Support for the national trade and transport facilitation committee; (iii) improvements to Bangladesh trade portal and setting up a national inquiry point for trade 3) implement national single window and customs modernization plan in spite of some automation of Customs procedures, a significant proportion of Bangladesh’s international trade procedures, particularly those concerned with documentation preparation in advance of cargo arrival and clearance, remain as manual tasks requiring submission of paper documents in multiple copies to the various government agencies regulating trade.