Bangladesh News Desk: In a move to make the road transport infrastructure of Bangladesh more reliable, the government of Korea is going to introduce Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in the country for ensuring efficient traffic management
In this regard, the Government of Korea through Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in collaboration with Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) and Roads and Highways Department (RHD) held an Inception ceremony on ‘Introducing Intelligent Transport Systems in Bangladesh on Monday (Mar 28) in Dhaka.
The KOICA funded project is aimed to ‘Improving the reliability and safety on National Highway Corridors of Bangladesh by Introduction of ITS.’
The event was graced by Md. Nazrul Islam, Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division, Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun, Country Director of KOICA Bangladesh Office Ms. Young-Ah Doh and Chief Engineer of Roads and Highways Department AKM Manir Hossain Pathan. High officials of Government of Bangladesh and experts from Korea also attended.
It featured elaborate discussions on Government of Republic of Korea (ROK)-Government of Bangladesh (GoB) project of Establishment of ITS Master Plan, Architecture and Standard, Implementation of Pilot Project, Capacity Building of RHD and RTHD, roadmap of upcoming road and highways projects in Bangladesh, hands-on lessons learnt and best action plan in the context of Bangladesh along with introduction of Korean companies in the relevant field.
Transportation sector is the one of Korea’s development priority areas for Bangladesh aligned with its national priority, said the KOICA.
KOICA is financing US $8.9 million from 2020 to 2023 under the said project which is being implemented in partnership with Roads and Highways Department (RHD) under Roads Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) and Korea Express Corporation (KEC) with the aim to make road transport infrastructure of Bangladesh more reliable, use ICT for efficient traffic management, enhance the institutional capacity of RHD for road and traffic management and address project scope with RHD, RTHD and relevant GoB organizations.
KOICA said it is glad to partner with KEC consortium – a world class state-owned agency- as it has led Korea’s expressway construction for several years and contributed to the country’s development and growth.
Additionally, KOICA had supported capacity building training programme on Building the Capacity of Roads & Highways Department Focusing on Road Maintenance and Management System, targeting more than 50 officials of RTHD and RHD from 2019 to 2021.
KOICA is committed to develop an effective road management system that is expected to reduce time and accidents for much-needed improved road conditions in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Korean Ambassador and KOICA’s Country Director hoped that through this comprehensive support from Republic of Korea, Bangladesh can develop Road & Safety Masterplan to enhance Road Maintenance and Management System.
While the Secretary of RTHD, Md. Nazrul Islam expressed his gratitude for the support extended by the Korean government and being time tested friend of Bangladesh.
It is hoped that event will be an opportunistic to exchange expert knowledge between key stakeholders for strengthening overall cooperation between Korea and Bangladesh in the sector of ITS.
