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Md.S.Chowdhury Ph.D Importance of Bangladesh-Myanmar Route via Teknaf in the Context of Asian Highway With a view to boost up trade and commerce among Asian Nations, in 1959, United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (UN-ECAFE) initiated to establish road network linking Asian nations. Currently, 31 Asian nations are ready to connect themselves with nearly 140, 000 kilometer of road networks extending from Tokyo to Ankara. Bangladesh just missed the opportunity to get connected with the Asian highway network, because of its failure to negotiate the proposed road connections from India via Benapol to Myanmar via Teknaf (AH-41 route) instead of from India via Benanpol (AH-1) or Bhaglabandha (AH-2) to India via Tamabil (AH-1). However, Bangladesh is conveniently located at the crossroads of Southeastern (all countries east of Bangladesh) and Northwestern (all countries west of Bangladesh) countries of Asia. By connecting Bangladesh with its neighbors, it is not only possible to reduce the travel distances between all countries located east and west of Bangladesh, but also possible to develop better intermodal systems by efficiently connecting seaports and highways, which is one of the driving forces of developing Asian Highway network. |
