The bridge to progress

“We have proven, we can,” said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on the first installation of the Padma Bridge.

The Padma Bridge project is Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure project to date, and the first span of it -- a sight to behold -- shows just how far we have come.

And we did it without help from the World Bank -- after the institution withdrew its loans for the Padma Bridge on trumped up charges of corruption, the government made the bold decision to finance the project on its own, and we have delivered on that decision.

This project has had its share of setbacks, but now construction is well under way, and there is every reason to hope that it will be completed on time, connecting the southern part of Bangladesh with the capital city.

The bridge, once completed, promises to be a great leap forward for connectivity, facilitating trade, and bringing people closer together.

With construction successfully underway, Bangladesh has demonstrated its capability in handling such an engineering feat of considerable difficulty

Now that the project is off the ground, it is simply a matter of keeping our eyes on the ball.

The Padma Bridge is a bridge to progress, and one among dream projects that will transform the face of Bangladesh. With plans to build a Bus Rapid Transit and a Mass Rapid Transit already seeing steady progress, the coming years could take us to a new stage in our development path.

With a projected 1.2% rise in GDP once the bridge becomes operational, the project puts us well on track to achieve our economic goals.