The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) in partnership with The World Bank South Asia Regional Integration Program is delighted to invite you to the webinar “Connecting Eastern South Asia: Toward a Sustainable, Green, and Multimodal Future” on June 13, 8:00 AM ET (5:30 PM IST).

About the event

The World Bank 19^th OneSouthAsia Conversation will explore opportunities and challenges of strengthening multimodal connectivity in Eastern South Asia—what will it take to build sustainable and seamless connectivity in the region?  The conversation will bring together government speakers, private sector, and academics to discuss the increasing focus on multimodal regional transport including inland water transport and improved rail links between countries. It will also discuss regulatory and policy frameworks required for optimised multimodal connectivity and experiences of other regions including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The event will be held in partnership with CSEP and the World Bank South Asia Regional Integration Program.

Background:  South Asia’s intraregional trade is barely 5% of its total trade—compared to 60% in Europe and 25% in the ASEAN region. Other than tariff and non-tariff barriers, inadequate transport infrastructure and lack of seamless border connectivity contribute to low levels of integration and high costs of trade.  It is about 15–20% less expensive for a company in India to trade with a company in Brazil or Germany than with a company in Bangladesh. Integrating South Asia has the potential of delivering significant economic gains—it could increase annual intraregional trade in goods alone by $44 million.

The World Bank is supporting improved regional connectivity along 11 regional corridors, with a focus on sustainable, environment friendly and gender-inclusive infrastructure. Currently, road transport dominates regional transport, including freight transport. As per the World Bank analysis, among the countries of Eastern South Asia—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal—freight transport distribution is 72% for roads, 9% for inland water transport, 14% for sea, and just 4% for railways. This contrasts with the international benchmark for an ideal modal mix, which suggests a distribution of road transport at 25-30%, railways at 50-55%, and waterways at 20-25%.

Multimodal connectivity is not only faster, cheaper, but also has significantly high carbon benefits. For instance, rail transport emits roughly 20 % of the greenhouse gas emissions as compared to trucks and is almost four times more cost effective for long distance haulage. Similarly, a bulk IWT carrier emits 10% of GHG emissions as compared to a truck.

Format : The webinar will be streamed live here and on World Bank South Asia twitter and facebook channels. It does not require any registration.  If you have any questions, email them at OneSouthAsia@worldbank.org.

This event does not require registration. It will be streamed live here and on World Bank South Asia Twitter and Facebook pages.

Opening Remarks:

• Laveesh Bhandari is President and a Senior Fellow at CSEP. Dr. Bhandari has published widely on subjects related to sustainable livelihoods, industrial, economic, and social reforms in India, economic geography, and financial inclusion. He received his PhD in economics from Boston University for which he was awarded the Best Thesis in International Economics. He has taught economics at Boston University and IIT Delhi.

Panelists:

• Ashish Gaurel is an Executive Director at Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB), Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. He worked as a Senior Consultant at the Investment Board. He has written a book published “Performance Based Contracts for Road Projects“. The book focuses mainly on Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP). He completed a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Transportation Systems Engineering from Technical University Munich (TUM), Germany and has also taught Transport Economics and Public Transportation at the Institute of Engineering Pulchowk, Tribhuvan University.
• Shamimul Huq is the Country Head, Bangladesh, Dubai Port World–a logistics firm which is based out UAE and has operations across South Asia.
• Riya Sinha is an Associate Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Security vertical. She is also the 2022 Visiting Fellow at the Stimson Centre in Washington DC. At CSEP, Riya coordinates the Sambandh Regional Connectivity Initiative, focused on conducting data-driven research to map India’s links with its neighboring countries. She also co-manages the Sambandh Policy Dialogue, a track 1.5 format, private, and off-the- record forum for policymakers and experts to exchange perspectives on connectivity and geo- economic relations between India, South, and Southeast Asia, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indo- Pacific regions.
• Mr Tenzin serves as the Director General of Department of Surface Transport, a new department that has the holistic mandate for the formulation and implementation of policies, legislations and strategies for surface transport along with development and operations of all surface transport infrastructure. Prior to that he was the Director of the Department of Roads, which is responsible for the maintenance and construction of all roads and highways in Bhutan.
• Cecile Fruman is the Director, Regional Integration and Engagement in the South Asia Region (SAR). She is responsible for fostering greater connectivity and collaborative activities amongst SAR countries. Cecile has dedicated her career to international development across multiple geographies. She has deep experience in trade and competitiveness, strategy development, portfolio management, and partnerships. A French national, she holds an MBA from ESCP Europe, one of France’s top business schools, and furthered her studies at the University of Osaka in Japan.

For general inquiries, please contact Anahad Kaur at AKaur@csep.org and Ayesha Manocha for media inquiries at AManocha@csep.org.