Bangladesh has welcomed a Nepal proposal to use Saidpur Airport as part of strengthening connectivity between the countries and boosting economic growth. “We welcome the proposal. We are expanding the airport,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said after a meeting with his Nepalese counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali in Dhaka on Tuesday.
He said a technical team would look into the issue of what kinds of flight can be operated there. “Currently, 12-14 flights go to Saidpur Airport. So, people can come to Dhaka easily,” Dr Momen said. After the meeting, Gyawali also attended a discussion on "Bangladesh-Nepal Relations: Prospects for Sub-regional Cooperation" at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) auditorium.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam also spoke as the chief guest at the event organised by the BIISS. The visiting minister stressed the need for enhancing regional connectivity in the South Asian region in a bid to boost common economic growth. He pointed out that enhancing connectivity is crucial to promote trade and investment.
Saidpur Airport started its journey as a domestic airport in 1979. This airport is situated on a total of 136.59 acres ofland. It is managed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh. This Airport is located at2 km from Saidpur town and 350km from Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The only destination is Dhaka for the Passengers.
The Nepal Foreign Minister said during the bilateral meeting they discussed how the two countries can develop connectivity, transit, transport, and power sector cooperation. He said Bangladesh has recently permitted Indian company GMR to invest in hydro-power in Nepal that will provide 500 MW of power from Nepal to Bangladesh through Indian company GMR group.
“It will open a new chapter in power sector cooperation,” he said. Dr Momen they have discussed connectivity, tourism, climate and Rohingya issues and ways to remove trade barriers specially non-tariff barriers. In his lecture at the BIISS, the minister lauded Bangladesh’ s impressive economic growth and said with 6.2 per cent GDP growth Nepal stands second among the top growth achiever of this region.
He also emphasised on exploring true potentials of the regional cooperation to boost growth. In this connection he mentioned the initiatives like BBIN and said though Bhutan is yet to endorse the regional motor vehicle movement agreement, it has given consent on trade and investment cooperation mechanisms.
He also mentioned that despite having high potentials the bilateral trade volume between Bangladesh and Nepal is still modest. In this context he highlighted the necessity to remove tariff and non tariff barriers on trade. He also pointed out that on tourism, energy and climate change issues both countries need to work together. Nepal has agreed to provide hydropower to Bangladesh and Bangladesh has permitted an Indian company to supply power from their plant in Nepal.
Addressing the discussion as the Chief guest, the State Minister for Foreign Affaires termed Nepal a true friend of Bangladesh. He said that Bangladesh has already agreed to provide transshipment facilities to Nepal through Chattogram and Mongla port.