Govt to seek funds, policy support

The government is likely to emphasise on increasing investment under the Seventh Five Year Plan (SFYP) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and seek policy support from development partners in the next Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) meeting to be held on January 17 and 18 next year, finance ministry sources said. The BDF is a high level event where the Bangladeshi government and its development partners will explore further ties to foster inclusive economic growth. Economic Relations Division (ERD) officials told The Independent that the country is all set to host the top officials of World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The ERD officials informed that eight thematic sessions, including private sector investment and women entrepreneurship, will be included in the meeting.

In the last forum, the participants had called for creating decent jobs, tackling the barriers to growth and investment by building high quality infrastructure and improving the enabling environment for the private sector, building skills base and expanding regional connectivity.

They also emphasized improving Bangladesh’s resilience by mainstreaming climate action while taking a holistic approach to climate and disaster risk reduction.

The participants stressed the need to improve the equity, quality and efficiency of health and education services and nutrition to build better human capital. The last BDF called for enhancing women’s empowerment by increasing their participation in the labour force, improving their access to productive resources, eliminating child marriage and violence against women.

On the decisions in the last meeting, the ERD officials said the government had pledged to implement some issues as per SFYP and SDGs. The government will now inform the DPs about the progress of the plans, they added.

Since the government had discussed about the plans at an initial stage in November 2015, it was now time to inform about their implementation status and challenges.

According to the general economic division (GED) of the Planning Commission, Bangladesh would require an additional $928.48 billion till 2030 to implement the SDGs.

The $928.48 billion is 19.75 per cent of the accumulated gross domestic product under the SFYP, according to a report titled “SDGs Financing Strategy: Bangladesh Perspective”.

The annual average cost of the SDGs will be $66.32 billion at constant prices for the period, said the report prepared by the GED in November.

There are some challenges, including necessary funds, to implement the SDGs and SFYP that would be discussed in the forthcoming BDF, the ERD officials said.

Basically, the meeting would discuss the solutions to the challenges and Bangladesh’s upgrading from the status of least developed country, they said.

Govt to seek funds, policy support

The government is likely to emphasise on increasing investment under the Seventh Five Year Plan (SFYP) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and seek policy support from development partners in the next Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) meeting to be held on January 17 and 18 next year, finance ministry sources said. The BDF is a high level event where the Bangladeshi government and its development partners will explore further ties to foster inclusive economic growth. Economic Relations Division (ERD) officials told The Independent that the country is all set to host the top officials of World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The ERD officials informed that eight thematic sessions, including private sector investment and women entrepreneurship, will be included in the meeting. In the last forum, the participants had called for creating decent jobs, tackling the barriers to growth and investment by building high quality infrastructure and improving the enabling environment for the private sector, building skills base and expanding regional connectivity. They also emphasized improving Bangladeshs resilience by mainstreaming climate action while taking a holistic approach to climate and disaster risk reduction. The participants stressed the need to improve the equity, quality and efficiency of health and education services and nutrition to build better human capital. The last BDF called for enhancing womens empowerment by increasing their participation in the labour force, improving their access to productive resources, eliminating child marriage and violence against women. On the decisions in the last meeting, the ERD officials said the government had pledged to implement some issues as per SFYP and SDGs. The government will now inform the DPs about the progress of the plans, they added. Since the government had discussed about the plans at an initial stage in November 2015, it was now time to inform about their implementation status and challenges. According to the general economic division (GED) of the Planning Commission, Bangladesh would require an additional $928.48 billion till 2030 to implement the SDGs. The $928.48 billion is 19.75 per cent of the accumulated gross domestic product under the SFYP, according to a report titled SDGs Financing Strategy: Bangladesh Perspective. The annual average cost of the SDGs will be $66.32 billion at constant prices for the period, said the report prepared by the GED in November. There are some challenges, including necessary funds, to implement the SDGs and SFYP that would be discussed in the forthcoming BDF, the ERD officials said. Basically, the meeting would discuss the solutions to the challenges and Bangladeshs upgrading from the status of least developed country, they said.