Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic amongst BBIN.
| Q | A |
|---|---|
| What is BBIN? | Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic amongst BBIN. |
| How much area it will cover? |  |
| What is the objective of the act? | Signing of the BBIN agreement will promote safe, economical efficient and environmentally sound road transport in the sub-region and will further help each country in creating an institutional mechanism for regional integration. BBIN countries will be benefited by mutual cross border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic development of the region. The people of the four countries will benefit through seamless movement of goods and passenger across borders. |
| What is need of signing the agreement? | South Asia is one of the least integrated sub regions in Asia with countries trading more with nations elsewhere in Asia than with their neighbors. This is, in some part, because South Asia has fewer of the cross-border agreements – and less of the physical infrastructure – that ASEAN, for example, has. When vehicles can move easily across borders, transport costs fall, and goods become cheaper and easier to deliver. This, in turn, helps to develop more efficient supply chains and, along with it, spurs foreign direct investment, economic growth, and jobs. |
| What are the expectations from this agreement? | The BBIN motor vehicles agreement, with the help of technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank, was to be the first showcase pact for this new era of sub-regional cooperation in South Asia. Over five years, 30 road projects were to be implemented at a cost of $8 billion – to fill in, and upgrade, connectivity gaps. Vehicle that will run on the Thimphu- Bhutan-Gowahati-Shillong-Sylhet-Benapole-Kolkata route. |
| What are the hurdles behind the agreement? | Vehicle that will run on the Thimphu- Bhutan-Gowahati-Shillong-Sylhet-Benapole-Kolkata route.Goods are loaded or unloaded every time they have to cross the border. Transits of goods exit but very partially. Roads are narrow with no mile connectivity. Adequate infrastructure is not available. Banking and financial institutions are less available. |
| What are the benefits of signing the agreement? | The agreement opens up the possibility of turning border roads into economic corridors, increasing the employment opportunities along the way in all 4 countries. It will benefit member nations for mutual cross border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic development of the region, promoting smooth and efficient transport in the region. It will reduce transport costs, enabling increased connectivity and better relations within the countries. For India, such an agreement will prove a major boon and will lead to faster development of its North Eastern states due to development of land routes through Bangladesh which will reduce the time and cost of transport. It would complement India’s ‘Act East’ policy and would further provide impetus to projects like the Trilateral highway and Kaladan multi modal transport project under BIMSTEC. Infrastructure creation` will require investment as well as participation of skilled as well as un/semi skilled workforce boosting revenue and creating jobs. . The World Bank and Japan willing to invest in the South Asian region for a long time, will now invest. This will help in infrastructure building in the BBIN countries. It would give big impetus to the regional cooperation and partnership among SAARC members which has so far remained unexploited to its true potential. The agreement help the Bangladesh to facilitate its trade in more optimum manner further it can also tackle the often ethnic clashes in the border terrain. Similarly for Bhutan such involvement helps to tackle the growing Chinese dominance in the nation. Nepal is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the project, as because of its close proximity with India it helps Nepal in various domains. |
| How the challenges can be resolved? | There is need to have an integrated approach towards the agreement. Properly integrated planning by BBIN countries including delegation of responsibility to concerned authority should be followed. Investment in hard Infrastructure can be the solution for development. Training and capacity building of government officials involved in the implementation of BBIN MVA should be the priority. |