The Bangladesh government on Thursday signed an 1.2 billion dollar loan agreement with the World Bank for the construction of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project. Economic Relations Division Secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh Ellen Goldstein signed the landmark agreement on behalf of their sides this afternoon.AIR correspondent reports, the 2.93 billion dollar Padma Bridge project is one of the flagship infrastructure projects being planned by the Bangladesh government. The proposed 6.1 kilometre long Multipurpose bridge over the Padma River is dubbed to be the world's third largest bridge will provide a permanent transportation link across the Padma connecting SouthwestBangladesh to the rest of the country. Currently passengers and freight are transported over the 5-kilometer wide river on ferries and other smaller vessels, which lack capacity and are frequently suspended during floods, fog and other bad weather conditions. The bridge which is expected to be completed by the financial year 2014-15 will reduce distances to Dhaka by about 100 km and will also cut travel times to half the present duration from most areas of southwest region to the other parts of Bangladesh.