Seventh Five-Year Plan
ADB to give $8b
STAFF REPORTER
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give USD 8 billion to Bangladesh over the next five years to help implement its ongoing Seventh Five-Year Plan (2016-2020).
This was revealed at the launch of the ADBs Bangladesh Country Partnership Strategy 2016-2020 at the National Economic Council (NEC) auditorium yesterday.
According to the partnership strategy, the ADB will provide Bangladesh USD 8 billion for the 2016-2020 period, up from the USD 5 billion it had lent for the 2011-2015 period.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) senior secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin and ADB country director K Higuchi jointly launched the partnership strategy.
In the country partnership strategy (CPS), the ADB will adopt a broad-based approach to respond flexibly to Bangladeshs needs and demands. It will support easing infrastructure constraints in key sectors such as energy, transport, and urban development.
The ADB will increase public- and private-sector lending to Bangladesh to USD 8 billion for the 2016-2020 period to help the country build infrastructure and skills needed for a strong and diversified economy, as well as to strengthen trade links within the region. The CPS for 2016-2020, endorsed by the ADB board of directors, envisages an enhanced partnership between Bangladesh and the ADB.
Mohammad Mejbahuddin said the ADBs support would help reduce poverty in Bangladesh. The ADBs support is consistent with the governments focus on transport, energy,human capital, support to economic corridor development and improvement of the rural livelihood infrastructure, he added.
Bangladesh halved poverty as targeted under the Millennium Development Goals and reached the middle-income status following decade-long strong economic growth.
Our new CPS is aligned with thegovernments goals of creating newsources of growth, generating employment and supporting rural development for regionally balanced growth, said Kazuhiko Higuchi, the ADBs country director in Bangladesh.
The CPS adopts a broad-based approach in order to respond flexibly to the demand of the country.
Based on the ADBs core strengths,the CPS will help ease infrastructure constraints, boost human capital,promote economic corridor development, improve rural livelihoods, and provide climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure and services.
The CPS will promote investmentand growth in specific geographical areas to ensure a more integrated and higher impact.
The ADB will help the developmentof economic corridors to position Bangladesh well in regional and global value chains.
The CPS will also support further development of the Dhaka-Chittagong industrial artery, extending to Coxs Bazar in the south-eastern part of the country, and the development of the southwest economic corridor from Dhaka.
In the coming years, the ADB proposes to support major railway and road network capacity improvement; Chittagong port development; urban transport in Dhaka; power generation, transmission, and distribution; energy transmission, including regional energy trade; renewable energy development; water and urban services nationwide; water resources management and flood control; climate-resilient rural infrastructure; education and skills development; and access to finance.
The ADBs programme of assistance will be underpinned by gender mainstreaming, private sector mobilisation, especially through public-private partnerships, improved public finance management and regional cooperation support.
The ADBs knowledge products and services will provide analytical bases for developing operational activities.
To aid its operational expansion, theADB will strengthen institutionalcapacity support at project, sector and country levels.
