Bangladesh-Myanmar road planned

DHAKA, Bangladesh, June 2 (UPI) -- Work on a proposed 15.5-mile long Bangladesh-Myanmar direct road link is expected to start next year, a Bangladeshi official said.

"We hope to start the construction works in nine months to one year," Communications Secretary Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star, the newspaper reported Monday.

The government, which will finance the entire project, expected to cost about $31 million, is already searching for a consulting firm to do a feasibility study.

The highway, when completed, will set up the first road link between the two neighbors for bilateral trade and also help connect Bangladesh at a later date with the Asian Highway to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and China, the report said.

China can also use the road link to import products through Bangladesh's southeastern Chittagong Port, the Press Trust of India reported.

The Daily Star report said the highway will begin at Balukhali in Cox's Bazar and terminate at Bawlibazar in Rakhain state in Myanmar, formerly called Burma.

Myanmar is Bangladesh's third largest export destination for pharmaceutical products, the PTI report said quoting officials.