Bangladesh and South Korea have signed a loan agreement to provide US$ 100 million in concessional loan from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) to help economic recovery of Bangladesh hit by the pandemic. EDCF is Korea's development financing programme for assisting the socio-economic development of developing countries. Read:Denmark, PPPA sign MoU to enhance green infrastructure cooperation Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, additional secretary to the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Kim Tae soo, executive director of Export-Import Bank of Korea, signed the deal on behalf of their respective sides on Monday. This amount will be disbursed within this month by the Korea Exim Bank. The loan interest rate is 0.05% per annum and the maturity period is 40 years including a grace period of 15 years. The Republic of Korea has already provided US$ 50 million of EDCF loan as budgetary support in December 2020 to help Bangladesh’s efforts for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the second provision of this type of concessional loan. It will be the first EDCF loan to be implemented under the new EDCF Framework Agreement for the years 2021 through 2025 which was signed between the two governments on 24 October 2021. According to the agreement, the Korean government will provide up to 700 million USD of concessional loans to the government of Bangladesh for the five-year period. Read:Maritime Connectivity: Ranong port, Chittagong Port authorities sign MoU The new concessional loan of US$ 100 million will be used to implement several projects aimed at advancing the public finance management system and improving small and medium-sized businesses struggling from the repercussions of the pandemic. Bangladesh is the second largest recipient of the EDCF loans worldwide in aggregate amount. So far, the Republic of Korea has funded 24 development projects of Bangladesh with a total amount of US$ 1.2 billion through the EDCF.

The government has taken a project to bring three districts of the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) -- Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban -- under the railway network for making life in the remote hilly region easier. Initially, officials said, Rangamati will be connected with the railway network and Bangladesh Railway has already started work on setting up a 42-km rail track in the district which is expected to end by 2026. General Manager (Eastern Zone) of Bangladesh Railway Md Jahangir Hossain said Bangladesh Railway will construct the 42-km rail link from Raozan upazila to Rangunia via Kaptai involving Tk 8.926 crore. Read: Dual gauge railway from Bogura to Sirajganj under LoC soon He said the Economic Relations Division (ERD) has contacted the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jaica) seeking a loan amounting to Tk 7,141 crore for the much-needed project. Recently, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Railways Ministry and Chattogram-6 constituency MP ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury said Rangamati will be brought under the country’s railway network. “The government has taken the project to ease transportation of goods produced in Rangamati to Chattogram city and other parts of the country, and ensure train services for tourists,” he said while speaking at a programme at Kumira in Sitakunda upazila. The government also has a plan to connect Khagrachchari and Bandarban districts with the country’s railway network, he said. “The government has planned to establish 55 new railway stations across the country and 26 of these will be set up in the eastern region. Besides, train service will be launched from Nazirhat to Ramgarh Land port,” he added. Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujon at a programme in Dhaka recently said the government has taken a project titled “Janalihat-Cuet-Kaptai Dual gauge Rail Tracks” and a preliminary development project proforma/proposal (PDPP) has been prepared.