Bangladesh has reiterated the need for an early implementation of the proposed Bangladesh-Bhutan -India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Act to boost connectivity and economic development in South Asia.

According to United News of Bangladesh (UNB) the country’s foreign minister AK Abdul Momen raised the issue with the outgoing Nepalese Ambassador to Dhaka Banshidhar Mishra.

Nepal and Bhutan, the two landlocked countries in the region, are dependent on India and Bangladesh for port access.

While experts said that fast-tracking the BBIN project would have boosted economic growth in the region especially in the post Covid phase, Nepal’s political situation with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba coming in amid several other challenges could delay the implementation of the BBIN project.

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Analysts said that Dueba will have to prioritise other pressing issues at home.

The BBIN initiative can be a game changer in the region. Analysts said that the project will be critical for India at a time when China is expanding its military and economic might through the multi-billion infrastructure project under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Meanwhile, countries within the region have emphasised the need to boost connectivity among themselves. South Asian countries are among the least connected and integrated in the world today.

“The eastern sub-region is poised to become an economic growth pole for South Asia. An important component of this development potential is for countries to invest in connectivity – rail, inland waterways, and roads,” Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India said in the report.