Muhith stresses trade for financing SDGs
BSS
Putting high emphasis on trade for expediting economic activities of countries around the world, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said this would eventually be the effective and long-term source of financing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reports BSS.
The finance minister told a discussion on Financing the SDGs at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA, on Wednesday that the countries would require more money than the estimated cost of $3.5 trillion for implementing the SDGs, according to a official release received here yesterday.
Ministers for finance, planning and development across the world participated in the programme, which was a part of the 50 years celebration of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Muhith left Dhaka on Monday to attend the event.
Referring to the experience from implementing Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), he said more resources than the estimate were needed for funding MDGs.
The finance minister, however, noted that Bangladesh tremendously expedited the domestic resource mobilisation to implement giant infrastructure projects, which would contribute to implementing SDGs and would reduce dependency on overseas development assistance (ODA).
On the sidelines of the UNDPs anniversary, Muhith also had bilateral meetings with UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, Parliamentary Under Secretary of the United Kingdom Baroness Verma and Executive Secretary of UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Judith Karl.
At the meeting, UNDP Administrator congratulated Bangladesh for the graduation to the lower middle income country and hoped that the country would also be able to implement its target to be a middle income state by 2021.
She also expressed her high hope that one day Bangladesh would also be the funding country for the UNDP.
About the challenges to implement the SDGs, the finance minister sought UNDPs increased support to Bangladeshs initiatives. In particular, Muhith requested the UNDP administrator to support the initiatives of Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) to set up solar grids to ensure solar irrigation.
IDCOL, a government owned non-bank financial institution and the countrys pioneer in off-grid renewable energy financing, has planned funding 17 mini grid projects by 2017. Mini grid solar plant is a set of electricity generators and energy storage systems interconnected to a distribution network that supplies the entire electricity demand of a localised group.
At the meeting with Muhith, Baroness Verma said that her government is highly impressed by the development of Bangladesh especially in the areas of eradication of extreme poverty, women empowerment, gender equality and improvement in primary education enrollment.
Muhith told the bilateral meetings that the present government has been implementing various programmes to reduce income inequality and improve the quality of data.
He also said that the government has been implementing special social safety-net programmes for the physically challenged population.
Women are also being encouraged to be entrepreneurs and participate more in economic activities, the minister said noting that about 90 per cent workers in the garment sector are women.
UNCDF executive secretary assured the finance minister that his organisation would continue to support the governments initiatives of economic empowerment of women.
