Bangladesh Economy: News & Updates

[Homo Sapiens]

If six lane highways go for all of 300 miles between cities in third world countries then it is done mostly to steal money in corrupt schemes. For Pakistan these highways are great if they like them, but we have better things to spend our money on such as education, health and sanitation so we improve on our human capital.

Pakistan seems to have obsession on road building.They are creating six-lane Lahore-Karachi motorway measuring 1160 km, two-third of which running through lightly populated southern punjab and Sindh deserts.Even their 365 km long Lahore-Islamabad six lane motorway which run through densely populated and most developed part of the country is mostly under utilized.This is in a country which have still the lowest human development indicators.Seems like they are fond of white eliphant project then investing on grass-root level development.

 

[Major Sam]

Pakistan seems to have obsession on road building.They are creating six-lane Lahore-Karachi motorway measuring 1160 km, two-third of which running through lightly populated southern punjab and Sindh deserts.Even their 365 km long Lahore-Islamabad six lane motorway which run through densely populated and most developed part of the country is mostly underutilized.This is in a country which have still the lowest human development indicators.Seems like they are fond of white eliphant project then investing on grass-root level development.

Dil ko tasali dene k liye , Ye khayal b Acha ha Ghalib

 

[TopCat]

@Bilal9 :

Tell you the truth does BD really need 6 lane highways apart from the Dhaka-Chittagong route?
BD is a very densely populated country and the government should be actively encouraging as
many goods and people to be moved around on the railways and waterways. This is what I think
it is trying to do with the 30 billion US dollar plan to upgrade and modernise the railway system
by 2030. The current upgrade that is taking place to turn all the 2 lane highways connecting major
towns and cities to 4 lane should be sufficient.

For a small country like BD, goods transportation by road is more economical and faster than train. Govt should work on high speed train for passengers only.
6 lane high ways never necessary if the 4 lane road can be made off-limit to the viallgers and cows.

 

[Bilal9]

Dil ko tasali dene k liye , Ye khayal b Acha ha Ghalib

Very poetic.

Yeh tasalli ka baat nehi hai Janaab, yeh amli ka baat hai.

No - really, if Pakistanis are okay with large six-lane freeways, then more power to you.

For Bangladesh - I'd rather have any govt. concentrate on basic things first like

1. availability of electricity,
2. availability of industrial jobs,
3. availability of infrastructure for development (other than roadways).

Our is a riverine country - so we have to look at bridges and marine transport infrastructure as well. And while a lot of progress has happened - a lot needs to be done.

Direct comparisons between Bangladesh and Pakistan are useless. Apples and Oranges situation.

The Padma bridge is a massive project which was a priority for many years and is being built now.

 

[UKBengali]

For a small country like BD, goods transportation by road is more economical and faster than train. Govt should work on high speed train for passengers only.
6 lane high ways never necessary if the 4 lane road can be made off-limit to the viallgers and cows.

Are you sure?

A high-speed 160km/hr rail-link between Dhaka and Chittagong could transport cargo in 2 hours.
And with abundant electricity production being planned, I cannot see why it could not be done very cheaply
during the night when electricity costs will be low due to low industrial and residential demand.

 

[Major Sam]

Very poetic.

Yeh tasalli ka baat nehi hai Janaab, yeh amli ka baat hai.

No - really, if Pakistanis are okay with large six-lane freeways, then more power to you.

For Bangladesh - I'd rather have any govt. concentrate on basic things first like

1. availability of electricity,
2. availability of industrial jobs,
3. availability of infrastructure for development (other than roadways).

Our is a riverine country - so we have to look at bridges and marine transport infrastructure as well. And while a lot of progress has happened - a lot needs to be done.

Direct comparisons between Bangladesh and Pakistan are useless. Apples and Oranges situation.

The Padma bridge is a massive project which was a priority for many years and is being built now.

Currently in Pakistan everything is going in parallel.

which is good.

Motorways, energy projects, infrastructure projects, railways and new ports. all things goes hand in hand.

Bec with the large population we have, these all motorways will help with time. If you look at motorway cost its still way lower than your 4 lane highways. I dont know whether its because of corruption or some bureaucratic issues.

 

[gslv mk3]

A slight correction, this is the Mumbai Pune expressway, near Lonavala, Pune.

 

[Khan_21]

Pakistan seems to have obsession on road building.They are creating six-lane Lahore-Karachi motorway measuring 1160 km, two-third of which running through lightly populated southern punjab and Sindh deserts.Even their 365 km long Lahore-Islamabad six lane motorway which run through densely populated and most developed part of the country is mostly under utilized.This is in a country which have still the lowest human development indicators.Seems like they are fond of white eliphant project then investing on grass-root level development.

I don't think Human development Index is the only indicator of quality of life . If you check mercer quality of life Karachi , Lahore , Islamabad all rank higher than Dhaka . Or if you see United nations happiness report on Quality of life BD is a good 30 positions below Pakistan . BD is still listed on United Nations Least developed countries while Pakistan is not listed there .

http://unctad.org/en/pages/aldc/Least Developed Countries/UN-list-of-Least-Developed-Countries.aspx

Pakistan while yes has an obsession to build 6 lane highways everywhere .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorways_of_Pakistan

Total current length of 6 lane Highways = 929 KM

Further 2000 km is under construction .

 

[Bilal9]

Currently in Pakistan everything is going in parallel.

which is good.

Motorways, energy projects, infrastructure projects, railways and new ports. all things goes hand in hand.

Bec with the large population we have, these all motorways will help with time. If you look at motorway cost its still way lower than your 4 lane highways. I dont know whether its because of corruption or some bureaucratic issues.

Motorway cost I believe is lower in Pakistan because you hardly have any waterways to deal with (hence hardly any bridges). In Bangladesh you will almost have to build large bridges/culverts every couple of miles. Cost to build is doubled/tripled in some cases.

If you compared areas in the US, Bangladesh=Louisiana and Pakistan=Arizona+Parts of Texas.

In Pakistan motorways are built on existing paleolithic ground and hard rocky substrate. Bangladesh has almost a thousand feet of soft alluvial soil ('Poli-Mattee') to dig through (Because it is mostly located on the Ganges Delta) before you get to base-rock below. Great for growing things and nice to look at. Not so great to build things on which means expensive.

Dhaka has hardly any building taller than forty five stories because the cost to build skyscrapers is double that of other countries. I'd argue however that the number of Twenty story buildings (literally several hundred built every couple of years) is larger than a lot of South Asian metros.

Plus building materials (such as crushed rocks, bitumen etc.) are probably a lot cheaper in Pakistan too which plays a huge role in lowering cost.

I don't think Human development Index is the only indicator of quality of life . If you check mercer quality of life Karachi , Lahore , Islamabad all rank higher than Dhaka . Or if you see United nations happiness report on Quality of life BD is a good 30 positions below Pakistan . BD is still listed on United Nations Least developed countries while Pakistan is not listed there .

http://unctad.org/en/pages/aldc/Least Developed Countries/UN-list-of-Least-Developed-Countries.aspx

Pakistan while yes has an obsession to build 6 lane highways everywhere .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorways_of_Pakistan

Total current length of 6 lane Highways = 929 KM

Further 2000 km is under construction .

We're getting off the subject and I'm partly to blame. Let's open a separate thread to discuss if you wish...

 

[Khan_21]

Yes I'd agree with that assessment. Even in US most highways are not six lanes end-to-end. It is required only near cities where traffic is heavier (sometimes 8-10 lanes altogether). This should be the same in Bangladesh.

If six lane highways go for all of 300 miles between cities in third world countries then it is done mostly to steal money in corrupt schemes. For Pakistan these highways are great if they like them, but we have better things to spend our money on such as education, health and sanitation so we improve on our human capital.

Our human capital today is better than all other subcontinental countries other than Sri Lanka and I'd like to keep it that way. We've got more girls than boys in school and the life expectancy in Bangladesh is higher than others too.

Better Infrastructure is one of the reasons Pakistan is more richer than BD by per capita in both nominal and PPP . I would't put too much into Human development index because there are 50 other indexes on quality of life where BD is behind . Though I admit Nawaz Sharif is more concerned to make Pakistan more flashy . For example if you happen to visit Islamabad or Certain areas of Lahore , they are so well maintained you wouldn't think you are in South Asia . Pakistani's by psyche are flashy . Have you heard of Bahria towns in Pakistan ? We have these housing societies which makes you think you are wondering around in Spain or Italy . And these Housing societies aren't small either they are spread in many Km's .

Bahria Town Karachi

Bahria town Islamabad

Bahria town Lahore

Each of these housing societies cover several km's with Multiplexes , Italian/Spanish styled houses and roads , Theme parks and what not .

Pakistani's usually prefer things that are visible to the naked eye . and That is why Nawaz Sharif will win again in 2018

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Motorway cost I believe is lower in Pakistan because you hardly have any waterways to deal with (hence hardly any bridges). In Bangladesh you will almost have to build large bridges/culverts every couple of miles. Cost to build is doubled/tripled in some cases.

If you compared areas in the US, Bangladesh=Louisiana and Pakistan=Arizona+Parts of Texas.

In Pakistan motorways are built on existing paleolithic ground and hard rocky substrate. Bangladesh has almost a thousand feet of soft alluvial soil ('Poli-Mattee') to dig through (Because it is mostly located on the Ganges Delta) before you get to base-rock below. Great for growing things and nice to look at. Not so great to build things on which means expensive.

Dhaka has hardly any building taller than forty five stories because the cost to build skyscrapers is double that of other countries. I'd argue however that the number of Twenty story buildings (literally several hundred built every couple of years) is larger than a lot of South Asian metros.

Plus building materials (such as crushed rocks, bitumen etc.) are probably a lot cheaper in Pakistan too which plays a huge role in lowering cost.

Very well said. Cost of construction materials is significantly higher in BD then Pakistan. Rock, crushed aggregates are to be found no where in delta region. In addition roads built in soft delta soils sink under weight and engineers have to factor that into the design increasing costs even higher. Also dense population would make planning and purchasing land a nightmare. Also probably mass transit systems might suit BD better given the very high density of population. Anyway keep up the good work up. I am wearing a very good quality shirt bought at ridiculously cheap price thanks to some hardworking BD worker.

And @Khan_21 the real per capita in Pakistan is far higher than the figures the World Bank and rest quote. Nobody pays taxes real income is not even registered. That is why when outsiders go to to PK they are surprised at what they see.

 

[Khan_21]

Very well said. Cost of construction materials is significantly higher in BD then Pakistan. Rock, crushed aggregates are to be found no where in delta region. In addition roads built in soft delta soils sink under weight and engineers have to factor that into the design increasing costs even higher. Also dense population would make planning and purchasing land a nightmare. Also probably mass transit systems might suit BD better given the very high density of population. Anyway keep up the good work up. I am wearing a very good quality shirt bought at ridiculously cheap price thanks to some hardworking BD worker.

And @Khan_21 the real per capita in Pakistan is far higher than the figures the World Bank and rest quote. Nobody pays taxes real income is not even registered. That is why when outsiders go to to PK they are surprised at what they see.

Credit Swiss report puts our economy at $ 495 billion .

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Credit Swiss report puts our economy at $ 495 billion .

Not surprised. Everytime I go there I think to myself "What the hell". The stats don't even come close to representing the true scale of the economy. Fact is you can buy a car, build a house, go eat a meal, spend 100,000s and not a pay a Rupee in tax. This is fact. While most countries have black economy but Pakistan has taken it to altogether another level. I think the tax base is the smallest in the world for a country of this size.

Anyway let us leave it to the "small people". This is a BD thread. All the best ....

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Motorway cost I believe is lower in Pakistan because you hardly have any waterways to deal with (hence hardly any bridges). In Bangladesh you will almost have to build large bridges/culverts every couple of miles. Cost to build is doubled/tripled in some cases.

If you compared areas in the US, Bangladesh=Louisiana and Pakistan=Arizona+Parts of Texas.

In Pakistan motorways are built on existing paleolithic ground and hard rocky substrate. Bangladesh has almost a thousand feet of soft alluvial soil ('Poli-Mattee') to dig through (Because it is mostly located on the Ganges Delta) before you get to base-rock below. Great for growing things and nice to look at. Not so great to build things on which means expensive.

Dhaka has hardly any building taller than forty five stories because the cost to build skyscrapers is double that of other countries. I'd argue however that the number of Twenty story buildings (literally several hundred built every couple of years) is larger than a lot of South Asian metros.

Plus building materials (such as crushed rocks, bitumen etc.) are probably a lot cheaper in Pakistan too which plays a huge role in lowering cost.

Bangladesh also got an advantage against Pakistan or all other countries.BD has the largest network of navigable rivers in per unit of area.Water transport of man and materials are several times cheaper than any mode of land based transportion.Most of the goods and people in Bangladesh are still transported through navigable waterways.So we don't need same amount of highways or railways which would be needed in other countries to transport same number of people and goods.God has given us a lot of natural highways free of cost.

Credit Swiss report puts our economy at $ 495 billion .

What Credit Suisse reported was not GDP size rather of total wealth which is 495 billlion usd in case of Pakistan.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/973649/pakistan-has-18th-largest-middle-class-in-the-world-report/

 

[TopCat]

Are you sure?

A high-speed 160km/hr rail-link between Dhaka and Chittagong could transport cargo in 2 hours.
And with abundant electricity production being planned, I cannot see why it could not be done very cheaply
during the night when electricity costs will be low due to low industrial and residential demand.

I dont think cargo trains uses electric engine. Do they?
Its cheaper and faster because you need to carry the goods to the rail track by truck itself then load them to train. Taking in consideration of waiting period, loading and unloading a truck can travel 100's of miles by the same truck within this period. If the travel distance is far like USA or India it would be far economical than a country like Bangladesh.

.
And @Khan_21 the real per capita in Pakistan is far higher than the figures the World Bank and rest quote. Nobody pays taxes real income is not even registered. That is why when outsiders go to to PK they are surprised at what they see.

In Pakistan and Bangladesh main source of revenue is through indirect taxes like sales tax, import/export tax etc. You can easily make up the real GDP from these numbers instead of going through individual tax return. What you are saying that your GDP figure massively under valued is factually wrong, even if majority of people dont pay taxes.

We have only 1 million out of 160 million people who have TIN (tax identification number) and from which only a quarter file for tax return.